Live From the Overwatch League Grand Finals: Wells Fargo Center Welcomes Blizzard Entertainment for Sophomore Season's Final Clash The ultimate broadcast includes 27 cameras, onsite programming, and a custom observer room By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Sunday, September 29, 2019 - 9:00 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
It's been an unprecedented week full of esports-related events in Philadelphia. This past Wednesday, the 2018 Overwatch League runner-up Philadelphia Fusion broke ground on their new arena that will be ready to open in 2021. Today, the two best teams of this year's season, the San Francisco Shock and the Vancouver Titans, as well as every fan in the esports universe will come in droves to the Wells Fargo Center for the 2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals.
the 171 ft. wide LED video wall is the centerpiece of the Overwatch League Grand Finals stage.
The relationship with Barclays Center was great, but this venue is owned by one of our teams, says Pete Emminger, VP, global broadcast, Blizzard Entertainment. Since Comcast Spectacor owns the Fusion and this building, they have become one of our constant partners. They've been super helpful, and we've had a really good collaboration. The [Wells Fargo Center team] have been going through a pretty recent renovation and they've kept in the loop on the progress and all of their plans.
Spectator Sport: Compound Hosts a Makeshift Observer Room
For video game aficionados, there's nothing worse than getting eliminated from a match and having to watch your buddies duke it out for the victory in spectator mode. In an esports production, this player purgatory is the heartbeat of a successful telecast. Outside of the Wells Fargo Center, two NEP mobile production trucks (EN3's A and B units) is handling all of the typical bells and whistles of a traditional sporting event, but inside NEP's BT-1 auxiliary unit, this is where the true magic happens. In a blur of adrenaline and excitement, multiple technicians are controlling the observer room that handles all of the in-game coverage.
The observer room's system and the game system are connected to the same network, says Emminger. Since we're IT-dependent, everything is fully integrated into that department. We also leverage a global network operations center at home [in Irvine, CA] where they manage this entire infrastructure with sensors in the computers.
In addition to their responsibility of publishing the in-game footage, the observer room is controlling the personalized viewing for Overwatch League All-Access Pass subscribers on Twitch.
As the nucleus of the production, the observer room has access to all 12 game feeds.
In the other NEP EN3 units, the A-unit will be the home of the main production crew. Other production duties, such as EVS servers (with 30 channels of replay) and transmission services will be in the B-unit.
All of the Lights: Massive LED Video Wall Puts the Cherry on Top
Seventy-five lbs. of confetti, 175 chain hoists, 2,739 ft. of truss, and 165,206 lbs. worth of show rigging are accented by a sparking jewel that will make it virtually impossible to not see all of the details occurring during the match for those in attendance. Spanning across the entire length of the main platform and using more than five miles of fiber, a 171 ft. wide LED Hero screen (that is three ft. wider than the White House) will add another wrinkle to the production. Blizzard partnered with Creative Technology Group, a live events sector of NEP, on this project.
We have a custom graphics system that we've been continuing to further develop that's built off of Touch Designer, says Emminger. We're able to trigger all of the screen graphics that are 12x 4K resolution.
On the other hand, a new toy in the Wells Fargo Center in the form of the recently constructed 4K kinetic video board, will not make an appearance at this year's championship to avoid issues with the sightline of the players.
Since the uniqueness of the Overwatch League (and esports, in general) mixes the broadcast, live stream, and in-venue show, Vizrt Viz Trio systems are powering the graphics package. Three will be on the premises for the standard show, while four will be offsite to implement overlays that cater to regional areas.
Each gaming station includes the player's own keyboard and mouse and a POV camera above the monitor.
Around the World in Seconds: Transmission Reaches 32 Destinations
With the league's 20 teams coming from six countries on three separate continents, the viewership for the Grand Finals will be on a global scale. With 29 original feeds (plus three backup channels), a total of 32 transmission paths will move the various signals to and from the TV compound via IP distribution through the cloud with AWS.
On Twitch, the matches will host channels in five languages: English (overwatchleague), Korean (overwatchleague_kr), Russian (overwatchleague_ru), French (overwatchleague_fr), and Portuguese (overwatchleague_br).
For the live stream on the ESPN App and the broadcast on ABC, there will be dual paths with the help of LTN Global Communications and Zixi to ESPN, which will then be routed to both endpoints.
For the abundant amount of content being generated during the two to three-hour extravaganza, Emminger and company have concocted an intricate system for on-demand, sponsorship, and social media purposes.
We have a pretty heavy MAM architecture, so we're all object-based storage in a data center. We have a team [back at headquarters] doing a few things, such as content in postproduction and localizing a lot of our global sponsorship deals into multiple languages, he says. Our team has access to the live feed off of a 10 GB connection for a mini asset management system onsite, so they can cond
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Liberty University on why broadcast technology isn't just a technical invest...
08/05/2026
COW Jobs: UGC, On-Camera Video Content
Brie Clayton May 7, 2026
0 Comments
UGC, On-Camera Video Content
April 17, 2026Documentary Editor - US,......
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
Live From the Overwatch League Grand Finals: Wells Fargo Center Welcomes Blizzard Entertainment for Sophomore Season's Final Clash The ultimate broadcast includes 27 cameras, onsite programming, and a custom observer room By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
