Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

NEP Group Back for a Second Helping of MLS Season Pass on Apple TV

01/03/2024

NEP Group Back for a Second Helping of MLS Season Pass on Apple TV NEP provides facilities, crew, and a variety of services coast to coast in Year 2 By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.

Friday, March 1, 2024 - 3:06 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

The 2024 MLS season opener, for which a sold-out, star-studded crowd turned out to see megastar Lionel Messi and Inter Miami FC take down Real Salt Lake 2-0, served as yet another sign that the epicenter of U.S. soccer is securely rooted in South Florida. For NEP's Vista Worldlink, which proudly calls South Florida home, the setting could not have been more fitting. After all, Vista has served as one of the league's key production partners and an ardent supporter for more than two decades and has watched the MLS's monumental evolution firsthand.

NEP Vista Worldlink's Josh Liemer (standing) at the Dania Beach, FL, facility.

We've been working together for more than 20 years, says Josh Liemer, president, NEP Vista Worldlink. It really is a special relationship. We have seen this league grow by leaps and bounds, so being at the stadium [for the opener] and seeing the excitement right in our own backyard was special. And to be there with individuals from MLS that I've known for 20-plus years watching Lionel Messi and the stars coming out to support was pretty emotional and shows the amazing growth of this league.

As it did throughout the inaugural year of MLS League Pass on Apple TV, NEP Group is once again overseeing all broadcast services and providing all mobile units, technical crew, and operations; support for remote and decentralized production; studio facilities in NYC; and infrastructure and systems management.

NEP Goes Coast to Coast: Inside MLS Season Pass Production Operations To pull off this coast-to-coast effort, NEP is providing dozens of mobile units at MLS venues (both from the NEP fleet and contracted from third-party providers) and has built a connected ecosystem comprising centralized-production facilities and technological infrastructure in Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, South Florida, and Washington, DC.

First off, all MLS Season Pass studio productions - including the new Spanish-language version of the MLS 360 whip-around show - will be handled by NEP's Metropolitan Studios in New York City.

The MLS 360 whip-around show will also be produced in Spanish this year for the first time.

For live matches, NEP oversees production of a world feed and English- and Spanish-language feeds (and French when necessary) with announcers onsite. The 1080p feeds (along with 16 channels of embedded audio for 5.1 surround sound) are sent to NEP's data center in Dallas before being distributed to multiple locations: Vista Worldlink centralized-production center in South Florida, which is managing connectivity and distribution and is responsible for remote productions of MLS Next and MLS Next Pro games; Media NEP's Mediabank media-asset-management operation in Washington, DC; the NEP Production Center in L.A. (PCLA) for playout and commercial insertion; and Metropolitan Studios in New York City for shoulder programming.

It's pretty unbelievable just how far this whole operation has come, says Liemer. I remember the days of rolling up mobile uplink trucks to backhaul all the signals from the stadiums. Today, the league has installed its own private fiber network and is distributing all of their events in native 1080p onto the Apple platform.

Live coverage of all MLS and Leagues Cup matches will be produced at MLS stadiums, including onsite English- and Spanish-speaking talent, with NEP's fleet of mobile units - and trucks from other providers when necessary - deployed to produce simultaneous coverage of up to 14 matches each game day.

Finding enough trucks to cover all those [games] was one of the biggest challenges that MLS put in front of us from day one, says Liemer. The fact that we have been able to deliver speaks to the strength of NEP - not only the amazing fleet we have but also the relationships that we have with some of our strategic competitors that are also partners.

They support us through a variety of different projects and help us meet the challenge for MLS, he continues. That's what makes this industry so special: there are days when we're competing against each other; there are days we're supporting each other. I think it has always been a relationship-driven business, and we are lucky to work with great individuals.

More than 500 MLS Next Pro and MLS Next matches will be produced remotely at NEP's Vista Worldlink centralized-production facility.

In addition to MLS and Leagues Cup matches, the new service will carry 250+ MLS Next Pro regular-season matches, the MLS Next Pro Playoffs and Cup, and 100 MLS Next elite-youth tournament matches. These games will be produced in 1080p with full custom graphics packages (though not with enhanced data or Dolby 5.1 surround audio). More than 500 MLS Next Pro and MLS Next matches will be produced remotely at Vista Worldlink.

Creative Sandbox': MLS, Apple, NEP, IMG Work Together for a Common Goal Three years ago this week, NEP acquired Vista Worldlink, and, in addition to being a key asset in NEP's overall portfolio, the Dania Beach, FL-based outfit has been integral to the success of MLS Season Pass. Liemer describes NEP SVP/Head of Production Jeff Jacobs and Vista Worldlink Executive Producer Mike Freedman as the ringmasters of the sprawling operation.

One of the special things that NEP delivers day in and day out is the amazing people that manage this incredible puzzle and all of these logistical obstacles, says Liemer. They have been planning for months to get this equation solved. They are the ones who make this happen.

NEP Vista Worldlink's facility h
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/03/01/nep-group-back-for-a-second-hel...
See more stories from svg

North America Stories

23/10/2025

Unlocking Character: Sportcast on Executing the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 New Season Production

Unlocking character: Sportcast on executing the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 new ...

23/10/2025

Clear Coordination: Juggling the New Bundesliga Rights Cycle Requirements and Pushing Innovation Forward at Sportcast

Clear coordination: Juggling the new Bundesliga rights cycle requirements and pu...

23/10/2025

Analysis: Is Piracy Just the Cost of Doing Business?

Analysis: Is piracy just the cost of doing business? By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 09:58 Print This Story It's high ...

23/10/2025

ESPN's Adam Whitlock on Driving Real-World Innovation Across the Video-Transmission Industry

ESPN's Adam Whitlock on Driving Real-World Innovation Across the Video-Trans...

23/10/2025

SVG TranSPORT 2025 Unites 300+ Industry Leaders in New York for Deep Dive Into Live Transmission Technology

SVG TranSPORT 2025 Unites 300+ Industry Leaders in New York for Deep Dive Into L...

23/10/2025

NBA Tip-Off: League Starts Season With Two New Broadcast Partners, In-House NBA TV/NBA App Ops

NBA Tip-Off: League Starts Season With Two New Broadcast Partners, In-House NBA ...

23/10/2025

NFL Deepens Business Partnership with EA Sports; More Madden Casts to Come?

NFL Deepens Business Partnership with EA Sports; More Madden Casts to Come?EA Sports will remain the exclusive producer and distributor of Madden NFL video game...

23/10/2025

NFL Moves Pro Bowl Games Indoors and to Super Bowl Week; Leans Into a Made-for-TV Presentation

NFL Moves Pro Bowl Games Indoors and to Super Bowl Week; Leans Into a Made-for-T...

23/10/2025

Together in Time: Alan Domnguez on the Common Themes in his Films and Sundance Institute's Support

By Alan Dominguez Recently I have been thinking about the intersection of two e...

23/10/2025

Coexistence, My Ass! Dares Peacemaking to Not Be So Serious

(L-R) Amber Fares and Noam Shuster Eliassi attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Coexistence, My Ass! at the Egyptian Theatre on January 26, 2025...

23/10/2025

A Force Multiplier for High-Frequency Communications: The L3Harris ARGUS-HF

The new solution is industry's first multi-channel receiver available for L3Harris's resilient tactical high-frequency data waveforms....

23/10/2025

Survey: Americans Concerned' About AI's Impact on Journalism

NEW YORK During a high-profile session at NAB Show New York, new survey data was shared that revealed significant public concern over artificial intelligence (A...

23/10/2025

Fox Weather Taps T-Mobile's SuperMobile for Extreme Weather Coverage

BELLEVUE, Wash. and NEW YORK Fox Weather has tapped T-Mobile as its preferred communications provider and said all of its reporters will be equipped with SuperM...

23/10/2025

Mike Wright Joins Lawo as VP, Sales, North America

RASTATT, Germany Broadcast and media workflow technology vendor Lawo has tapped Mike Wright as VP of sales, North America....

23/10/2025

European Broadcaster ARTE Taps Grass Valley for IP Transition

MONTREAL European cultural broadcaster ARTE has selected Grass Valley LDX 135 cameras and Creative Grading solution as part of its move from SDI/1080i to a nati...

23/10/2025

Scripps Names Daniel Parsons Chief Information Security Officer

CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has named Daniel Parsons as its new chief information security officer, effective Oct. 20....

23/10/2025

WWTV Completes IP Studio Upgrade

ALAMEDA, Calif. Northern Michigan broadcaster WWTV recently completed a major IP-based upgrade that connects its new Traverse City studio with its control room ...

23/10/2025

Verizon Fios TV, Nexstar Blackout Looms as Contract Ends on Oct. 24

A deadline is looming for a new carriage deal between Verizon's Fios TV and Nexstar, with both Verizon and the pay TV-backed American Television Alliance bl...

23/10/2025

Survey: Americans 'Concerned' About AI's Impact on Journalism

NEW YORK During a high-profile session at NAB Show New York, new survey data was shared that revealed significant public concern over artificial intelligence (A...

23/10/2025

Fox Weather Taps T-Mobile's Supermobile for Extreme-Weather Coverage

BELLEVUE, Wash. and NEW YORK Fox Weather has tapped T-Mobile has as its preferred communications provider and announced that all Fox Weather reporters are being...

23/10/2025

PBS Taps Amazon Bedrock to Improve Search on Digital Platforms

PBS will use generative AI from Amazon Web Services to provide enhanced search results to viewers on the PBS App and PBS LearningMedia platforms, the network an...

23/10/2025

The Resurrected' Marks First Chinese-Language Series to Launch Netflix Profile Icons

Back to All News The Resurrected' Marks First Chinese-Language Series to L...

23/10/2025

Fangs Out, Frames Up: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2' Leads a Killer GFN Thursday

The nights grow longer and the shadows get bolder with Vampire The Masquerade: B...

22/10/2025

Prime Video Inks Deal To Present NFL Black Friday Game Worldwide

Prime Video Inks Deal To Present NFL Black Friday Game Worldwide By SVG Staff Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 10:06 am Print This Story | Subscribe Story ...

22/10/2025

NBA Tip-Off: ESPN Goes 1080p HDR End-to-End, Flipping HDR Switch on REMI and REMCO Shows

NBA Tip-Off: ESPN Goes 1080p HDR End-to-End, Flipping HDR Switch on REMI and REM...

22/10/2025

FloSports Empowers Division II, III Athletic Departments With Turnkey Production Suite for Livestreaming Production

FloSports Empowers Division II, III Athletic Departments With Turnkey Production...

22/10/2025

Wall Street Video Summit Debuts, Bringing Together 200 Financial Enterprise Video Executives in NYC

Wall Street Video Summit Debuts, Bringing Together 200 Financial Enterprise Vide...

22/10/2025

Dueling Pianos: International Chopin Piano Competition Is as Competitive as a Ballgame - and Has Amazing Audio

Dueling Pianos: International Chopin Piano Competition Is as Competitive as a Ba...

22/10/2025

Orion Meets SLS: L3Harris Technology Ready to go to the Moon

The Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis II mission is stacked on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kenn...

22/10/2025

Hybrid SATCOM: Delivering Resilient and Agile Connectivity Today

L3Harris' Hybrid SATCOM is resilient by design, offering path diversity that eliminates vulnerabilities by routing data across the best available networks i...

22/10/2025

The 2025 NAB Show New York Opens With More Than 12,000 Attendees Expected

WASHINGTON, D.C. Organizers of NAB Show New York said they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countries along with 260 exhibitor...

22/10/2025

The 2025 NAB Show New York Set to Open with More Than 12,000 Attendees Expected

WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...

22/10/2025

Masque Sound and Jaffe Holden Create Transformative Perfo...

Masque Sound, a leading theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company, supplied an extensive gear package of professional-grade equipment for ...

22/10/2025

Lightware UCX-3x3-TPX-RX20 sets new standard for connecte...

Lightware, a global leader in signal management and AV connectivity solutions, is seeing strong market momentum for the UCX-3x3-TPX-RX20, a compact transmitter-...

22/10/2025

Chyron Releases PAINT 10.2 Telestration Platform

MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron has released PAINT 10.2, the latest update for its telestration platform, adding support for SMPTE ST 2110 IP workflows, expanding brandin...

22/10/2025

NBCUniversal Invests in ATSC 3.0 Authority Behind Run3TV

WASHINGTON Run3TV today said NBCUniversal is joining as an investor in the ATSC 3.0 Framework Authority, which develops the Run3TV NextGen TV application platfo...

22/10/2025

swXtch.io to Feature SRT-X Gateway, groundSwXtch at NAB Show New York

ATLANTA swXtch.io will feature two new networking solutions extending the company's reach across more cloud and on-prem workflows at NAB Show New York, set ...

22/10/2025

HBO Max Increases Prices for All Tiers

The Warner Bros. Discoverys HBO Max streaming services has increased prices for all its streaming tiers effectively immediately for new customers. Existing cust...

22/10/2025

OpenDrives Inks Agreement With Versatile Distribution Services

LOS ANGELES OpenDrives has signed a new distribution partnership deal with Versatile Distribution Services (VDS) to strengthen its channel and streamline how it...

22/10/2025

The 2025 NAB Show New York Set to Open with More Than 12,000 Attendees

WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...

22/10/2025

Samora Pinderhughes Brings Immersive Sound to Berklee's Signature Series

Samora Pinderhughes Brings Immersive Sound to Berklee's Signature Series The artist and composer, who's worked with Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper, Co...

22/10/2025

BMI Day at Berklee Celebrates Composer Fil Eisler and Awards Scholarship to Student Jack Ryan

BMI Day at Berklee Celebrates Composer Fil Eisler and Awards Scholarship to Stud...

22/10/2025

Tribeca Announces Star-Studded Lineup of Membership Events Featuring Tracy Morgan, Alex Rodriguez, and Lucy Liu

October 22nd, 2025 TRIBECA ANNOUNCES STAR-STUDDED LINEUP OF MEMBERSHIP EVENTS F...

22/10/2025

ARTE Enhances Live Production Capabilities with Grass Valley's NativeIP Solutions

European Broadcaster Upgrades To Grass Valley's NativeIP LDX 135 Cameras And...

21/10/2025

NAB New York 2025: Although AES Show Is on Its Own, Audio Will Be a Major Part of the East Coast Expo

NAB New York 2025: Although AES Show Is on Its Own, Audio Will Be a Major Part o...

21/10/2025

NAB New York 2025: Business of Broadcast and Media,' Future of Content' Are Themes for Two-Day Show

NAB New York 2025: Business of Broadcast and Media,' Future of Content'...

21/10/2025

SVG All-Stars: Ethan Folz, Senior Director, Digital Operations and Quality of Experience, DTC Products, Tech, and Operations, NBA

SVG All-Stars: Ethan Folz, Senior Director, Digital Operations and Quality of Ex...

21/10/2025

NBA on NBC/Peacock: Livestream Offers Graphic Overlays, Predictive Gaming, Ancillary Camera Angles, Real-Time Highlights

NBA on NBC/Peacock: Livestream Offers Graphic Overlays, Predictive Gaming, Ancil...

21/10/2025

NBA on NBC/Peacock: At the Front Bench With Producer Frank DiGraci and Director Pierre Moossa

NBA on NBC/Peacock: At the Front Bench With Producer Frank DiGraci and Director ...