
On the Hardwood: Milwaukee Bucks Leverage NBA Bubble Experience for 2020-21 Slate at Fiserv Forum Courtside Live is keeping fans entertained at home By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Wednesday, February 17, 2021 - 3:36 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The doldrums of 2020 may be in the past, but 2021 is still presenting challenges to in-venue production teams. Now out of the Orlando bubble, NBA organizations are hosting games in their home arenas and navigating the continuing difficulties of the pandemic. Like SVG's At the Ballpark and On the Gridiron series, On the Hardwood will take a look at the hardships, creative ideas, and teamwork of NBA franchises.
NOTE: This video interview was conducted prior to the return of fans on Tuesday, Feb. 16 vs. the Toronto Raptors.
The NBA bubble in Orlando was a four-month stretch unlike any other in sports-video-production history. It not only tested the technological means of the league, but also the fortitude of its participating franchises. One particular organization, the Milwaukee Bucks, took notes while they were in the Sunshine State and is using last summer's blueprint to produce regular seasons contests in Fiserv Forum.
Being on the ground and behind the scenes was an immense help, says Johnny Watson, executive producer, arena & event presentation, Milwaukee Bucks. There were a lot of takeaways from that experience that I brought here.
MORE ON THE HARDWOOD INTERVIEWS:
After Assisting Fox Sports Sun, Miami Heat Retrofit Control Room for Games in AmericanAirlines Arena
Sacramento Kings Improve In-Venue, At-Home Experience With Intel True View at Golden 1 Center
Atlanta Hawks Honor Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. in First of Season-Long Unity Nights'
Houston Rockets Work With League, RSNs To Produce Away Radio Broadcasts in Toyota Center
Golden State Warriors Connect Team, Chase Center to Fans at Home Through Dub Hub Experience
Despite Limited Fans, Cleveland Cavaliers Keep the Energy Up at Renovated Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Charlotte Hornets Redesign Mobile App To Bring Spectrum Center Content to the Home
Minnesota Timberwolves Feature On-Court Media Day With Drone Flyover at Target Center
Chicago Bulls Use Year-Old Videoboard, Mobile Predictive Gaming To Draw Up Production Plan
Denver Nuggets Repurpose RSN Broadcast With Some In-Venue Flavor
With Empty AT&T Center and Reduced Game-Day Staff, Spurs Add Digital Arena' to Mobile App
Bubble Tactics: NBA Postseason Lays Groundwork for Current Schedule Audio operators at their positions in Fiserv Fourm.
When select production teams made their way to Orlando, they understood that they would be producing a different type of event without fans in the building. The scrimmages, play-in games, and postseason tested their creativity, and the environment took some time to get adjusted to.
We went from 17,000 fans to nobody in the building, so it was a shock to the system in a lot of ways, says Watson. We needed to acclimate ourselves and get used to the new forms of cues, timing, and how to communicate with each other. I was able to produce content for 21 other teams, so I spoke with other game directors and learn their philosophies. It was really fascinating to see their thought process on prompts and content.
Not having fans in the stands was the hardest challenge, and in the bubble, these crews were responsible for bringing the energy of a typical playoff game. Working alongside colleagues from other teams, Watson cultivated these skills to bring these contests to life and become familiar with tools that are used in the current regular season. The most notable workflow has been Firehouse Productions' fake crowd noise equipment.
Flashbacks are one of the many elements being played on the videoboard.
It was kind of fun to get to know the people who created that software and implement it with success, he adds. We were lucky enough to have our DJ, DJ Shawna, down there and she was one of four DJs in the bubble. It was a huge learning experience and an incredible success story for the NBA to pull off.
Footage in the Forum: Replays, Flashbacks Populate In-Venue Videoboard Prior to the fan's return on Tuesday night, the Fiserv Forum had a unique production strategy for the first 27 games. Players, coaches, security, and in-venue personnel have been the only viewers inside of the building, and content shown on the videoboard catered to those groups. Aided by Daktronics Systems Technicians Joe Frost and Brin Riley on the technological side and Director, Game Presentation and Sponsorship Activation Pat Longo on a content side, players on the court have been able to see game-related material has been a huge priority.
Our primary goal is to cater to our basketball team, so we've had a lot of meetings with them to discuss our philosophy, says Watson. When it comes to the videoboard, we're pushing an overload of replays. Players are also seeing statistics on displays where we would typically have sponsors. We have more statistics than we've ever had. Just so if the coaching staff needs to see something, more regularly it's there.
Similar to previous seasons, Bucks fans have been the main source of excitement and main audience for entertainment at Fiserv Forum. Packed crowds and antics from spectators have been highlighted during timeouts and pauses in play, and with a large number of seats still remaining empty, the videoboard has become the destination for flashbacks of halftime performances and fan activations.
We'll have one of our hosts do a fun intro, and then roll a video of something that we did in years past, continues Watson. We also have our fans on NBA League Pass that are watching, so we can stream some of these fun things for them, too.
Pregame Platter: Team Works With Local RSN to
More from Sports Video Group
11/07/2025
Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...
11/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...
11/07/2025
2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...
11/07/2025
A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff
Friday, July 1...
11/07/2025
CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...
11/07/2025
Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...
10/07/2025
5G for all? What the DFL's use of Easy5G and RefCam could mean for events in...
10/07/2025
Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-...
10/07/2025
Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New...
10/07/2025
Seattle Kraken's Ryan Schaber on the NHL Team Taking Live Game Productions I...
10/07/2025
FOX Sports Reboots Small Control Room in Los Angeles as Hub for Vertical-First P...
10/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint...
09/07/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment, ViewLift Unveil Broadcast/Streaming Joint Ven...
09/07/2025
SVG Europe Audio State of Wireless Mics Forum: If we lose the spectrum, it...
09/07/2025
Tech Focus: Athlete Audio - Venues Provide Sound Just for the Players From locker room to field of play, personalized systems help rev up the athletes By Dan D...
08/07/2025
Groundbreaking Gamecocks: Inside University of South Carolina's Four-Control...
08/07/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment's Samantha Brady on the Power of the RSN...
08/07/2025
Live From 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: FIFA, HBS Focus on Tournament Wrap, With an ...
08/07/2025
SVG Rewind: NESN Goes Behind the Scenes of 1975 Red Sox Retro Broadcast NESN is following up the retrocast with a week-long celebration of the Green Monster By...
07/07/2025
1-2 Punch: The Cloud, Generative AI, and the Future of Sports-Content Distributi...
07/07/2025
Tests and decisions: Formula E host broadcaster Aurora on launching new AR graph...
07/07/2025
Building tension: Using new AR graphics for storytelling at the Formula E penult...
07/07/2025
Altitude Sports' Matt Krol on the Success of the RSN's In-Arena Postgame...
07/07/2025
SVG Rewind: Four NFL Clubs Bring Us on Set of Respective Media Day Shoots An in-depth conversation with 49ers Laura Johnson, Ravens Jay O'Brien, Las Vegas R...
07/07/2025
Cosm To Build Fifth Shared Reality Venue in Cleveland as Part of Bedrock's ...
02/07/2025
Progressive realism: Aurora on taking up the broadcast reins for World RX alongs...
02/07/2025
Great speed: New host broadcaster Aurora on getting the World RX 2025 season pro...
02/07/2025
Seat of its pants: Aurora boxes clever and looks ahead for the FIA as new host b...
02/07/2025
UEFA Women's Euro 2025: EBU, BBC Sport and Sunset Vine talk coverage plans, ...
02/07/2025
UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Women's Super League launches new content series...
02/07/2025
UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Ignite puts fans and players front and centre with t...
02/07/2025
Storytelling in the Live Game Broadcast: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt Breaks Down t...
02/07/2025
CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Productio...
01/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Exp...
01/07/2025
The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus...
01/07/2025
Cherry on the cake: Inside the technical production of the Tour de France 2025 w...
01/07/2025
NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, ...
01/07/2025
TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge Production approach emphasizes creative freedom, bold storytelling, casual-fan-friendly tone B...
27/06/2025
How smarter compression is creating a sustainable future By Michael Burns
Monday, June 23, 2025 - 14:13
Print This Story
Live sport is especially vulnerab...
27/06/2025
Behind the Mic: FOX Sports Ratchets Up UEFA Women's EURO 2025 With Top-Class...
27/06/2025
RTL Group To Acquire Sky Deutschland By George Bevir, Editorial Director, SVG Europe
Friday, June 27, 2025 - 8:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story ...
27/06/2025
Frictionless, At Scale: The Current State of Live Video Streaming Techology Leaders from Bitmovin, Comcast Technology Solutions, Harmonic, IMAX, and Phenix brea...
27/06/2025
Marquee Sports Network's Nick Steger on Meeting the Moment of the Contending...
27/06/2025
NHL Draft 2025: The League Is Primed for First Decentralized Draft in Non-Pandem...
26/06/2025
10th-Annual SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Presents Useful Roadmap for th...
26/06/2025
The Big Cloud Debate: Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid Tech leaders from CineSys, Diversified, and Net Insight breaks down all flavors of cloud By Jason Dachman, ...
26/06/2025
Program Productions' Jess Kowatch on Training the Next and Current Gener...
25/06/2025
SVG College Summit 2025: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY Tackling the latest in college sports video: NIL, live production, virtual productio...
25/06/2025
ESPN Is Set To Bring AR Graphics to Wimbledon, Revamps Bunker and Studio 18 VO B...
24/06/2025
2025 NBA Draft: ABC/ESPN Prepares for Two-Day Draft at Barclays Center Partners Game Creek Video, CP Communications, NEP Specialty Capture will be on hand By M...