Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

ESPN Rolls Out Skycam, Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera, and More To Capture Historic Spurs-Warriors Game at Alamodome

13/01/2023

ESPN Rolls Out Skycam, Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera, and More To Capture Historic Spurs-Warriors Game at Alamodome Enhanced infrastructure will help celebrate the Spurs' 50th anniversary By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Friday, January 13, 2023 - 1:18 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

When the San Antonio Spurs return to the storied Alamodome tonight to face the Golden State Warriors, a record 64,000 fans will be in attendance. As the Spurs break the NBA's 25-year-old attendance record, ESPN will deploy a unique production setup to cover an NBA game inside the sprawling venue. In addition to rigging up a Skycam over the court, ESPN will have a Sony Alpha 1 RF shallow-depth-of-field camera roaming the venue and has boosted its arsenal of Canon zoom lenses to capture the action on the court.

Tonight's Spurs 50th-anniversary game at the Alamodome is expected to break the NBA's attendance record.

This is a stadium that is fairly unknown to us, especially in a basketball format, says ESPN Senior Operations Specialist Alan McDonald. It's really about assessing where we can put our cameras to cover the game in the way that we would in a smaller NBA venue. In order to do that, we came out a couple weeks ago and did a site survey to figure out how we could do the same level of show [viewers] have come to expect in such a unique environment.

The most notable additions to ESPN's camera arsenal are the Skycam system flying overhead at the Alamodome, the Sony Alpha 1 mirrorless-camera RF system (provided by AVS and Faction Media) roaming the court to capture cinematic shallow-depth-of-field shots, and a drone shooting exterior scenic shots around the Alamodome.

ESPN has deployed a Skycam system at the Alamodome.

We have added a few extra cameras and lenses to be able to really showcase the event, says McDonald. We definitely expect that [Skycam] to give us an interesting and unique look. We've done Skycam for NBA [broadcasts] in the past, but this is going to be very different considering [the size of] the venue.

ESPN obtained a Canon UHD-DIGISUPER 122 AF 122x zoom lens for its main tight-iso camera (Camera 2), which will allow the operator to capture tight-iso shots on players on the court despite being located farther away than they would be in a traditional basketball arena. The majority of ESPN's other game cameras are outfitted with Canon 95X lenses.

The Sony Alpha 1 RF camera system will deliver cinematic shots of the action at the Alamodome.

We also moved our second tight-iso camera, which is associated with player mics, up into a mid-high-slash position, says McDonald, so that we could show how large the venue is but still be able to get the same game shots that we would normally get with those cameras.

ESPN laid down its own fiber to key positions at the Alamodome ahead of time.

In addition to rolling out more cameras, ESPN has enhanced its onsite infrastructure as well. The broadcaster's A-game truck, NEP EN3 (A and B) is on hand at the truck dock in San Antonio, and a small crew arrived two days early to lay down its own fiber for the majority of its camera positions, the announcers table, and the scorer's table.

There is already some fiber in the building, notes McDonald, but, with two other [RSN] shows - the Spurs [Bally Sports Southwest] show and the Golden State [NBC Sports Bay Area] show - we didn't want to stress the building's infrastructure any further, and we wanted to be able to control our own destiny. We spent the last two days pre-cabling with fiber to all the most important positions.

Tonight's game, which is being held at the Alamodome in honor of the Spurs' 50th anniversary, will allow fans to celebrate the history of their team, which normally plays at AT&T Center. In addition, McDonald and ESPN's remote-ops team (led by Operations Producer Patty Mattero) will have a welcome new challenge in the midst of a lengthy NBA season.

Of course, McDonald adds, we are used to doing large event shows with the Conference Finals and Finals, but to be able to do an event of this size and magnitude during the season is exciting. It's nice to come to a different arena and have a challenge that you don't see every week.

Check out additional images from ESPN's production of tonight's Warriors-Spurs game from the Alamodome below:
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2023/01/13/espn-rolls-out-skycam-sony-alph...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

11/09/2026

IBC 2026: Calrec Launches Type RT Console and Apex M6 Modular I/O Platform

Calrec will introduce two new products at IBC2026 (Stand 8.C47, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14): the Type RT broadcast production console and the Apex M6 Modula...

11/09/2026

IBC 2026: Grass Valley Launches AVORA All-in-One Live Production Platform

Grass Valley has announced AVORA, a standalone all-in-one live production solution launching at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01 and IBC Future Tech Zone, Stand 14.C49, Sep...

11/09/2026

IBC 2026: CAMB.AI Launches Streaming SDK and Dashboard for Multilingual Live Broadcasting

CAMB.AI is introducing its Streaming SDK and Streaming Dashboard at IBC2026, wit...

11/09/2026

IBC 2026: EVS Launches XT-S Software-Defined Multi-Application Server

EVS has announced XT-S, a software-defined server platform that runs multiple live production applications on a common hardware foundation. The platform debuts ...

11/09/2026

IBC 2026: EKT Showcases Linux-Based ATSC 3.0 Converter Box

EKT is demonstrating a new Linux-based ATSC 3.0 set-top box at IBC2026. The second-generation product moves away from Android to reduce memory costs, with Linux...

11/09/2026

IBC 2026: Sennheiser Group to Showcase Wireless, Monitoring, and Broadcast Workflow

The Sennheiser Group will exhibit at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Booth D50, September 11-14...

11/09/2026

Ludacris Joins Chris Stapleton and Cindy Blackman Santana for Monday Night Footballs In the Air Tonight Open

ESPN's Monday Night Football will open its 2026-27 season with a new renditi...

11/09/2026

Dalet Integrates NVIDIA Synthetic Content Detection into Dalet Flex

Dalet has announced an integration of NVIDIA's Synthetic Video Detector AI model into Dalet Flex, enabling media organizations to identify potentially AI-ge...

11/09/2026

IBC 2026: MC-IF Demonstrates VVC Capabilities

The Media Coding Industry Forum (MC-IF) will demonstrate Versatile Video Coding (VVC) capabilities at IBC2026 (Hall 2, Stand 2.B13), as the codec moves toward c...

11/09/2026

IBC 2026: Sony to Demonstrate Live, News, Cinema, and Immersive Production

Sony will exhibit at IBC2026 (Hall 13, September 11-14), demonstrating products across live production, news, cinema, and immersive and spatial content workflow...

11/09/2026

Wave Central Named Recipient of 2026 Technology and Engineering Emmy for FPV Drone Systems

Wave Central, a Domo Broadcast Company, has been named a recipient of a 2026 Tec...

11/09/2026

IBC 2026: SNS Validates EVO Compatibility With Avid Media Composer 2026.8, Adds Browser-Based Upload to Outpost

Studio Network Solutions (SNS) is bringing a pair of workflow updates to IBC2026...

11/09/2026

IBC 2026: iodyne to Demo Pro Mini Smart Drive Across Four Partner Booths

iodyne will co-exhibit with Hedge at IBC2026 (Booth 7.A36, September 11-14) and appear across three additional partner booths, marking the first public demonstr...

11/09/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 30: Freelance Graphics Operator Corinne Yamada - Philly-Based Graphics Creation

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

11/09/2026

CBS Sports Goes HDR Across Its Entire NFL Package, Heads to Rio in Week 3

The network will phase in HDR crew by crew while expanding Next Gen Stats integration, SkyDry availability, and onsite studio shows...

11/09/2026

IBC 2026: CAMB.AI Unveils the World's First Multilingual Broadcasting Agent Powered by NVIDIA

CAMB.AI is introducing its new Streaming SDK and Streaming Dashboard at IBC2026,...

11/09/2026

Netflix Goes Down Under With NBC Sports, NEP for NFL From Melbourne

Massive host operation at Melbourne Cricket Ground featured 54 cameras, 25,000 ST 2110 flows, REMI studio production in Stamford, and global distribution to mor...

11/09/2026

FOX Sports Homogenizes Coverage With Upscaled Game Tech, Seamless Integration With Studio Shows in L.A.

Production Anywhere Remote Kit (PARK) & AR-fueled Stage B are two key pieces to ...

10/09/2026

First AI-Generated Golf Announcer To Debut During New Mexico Open

Duff Foreman is an AI-generated announcer who will add color to this month's New Mexico Open...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: Bitmovin Rolls Out Encoder Version 3

Bitmovin is rolling out Encoder Version 3, the next major release of the technology behind its VOD and Live Encoders. Version 3 is built on a premise every stre...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: Net Insight Highlights Open Live Media for Controlled Live Services

At IBC2026, on booth 1.B47, Net Insight will showcase Open Live Media, its architecture for delivering resilient live media services across networks, partners, ...

10/09/2026

PWHL, Scripps Sports Sign National Television Deal for 2026-27 Season

The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and Scripps Sports have announced a national broadcast rights agreement for the 2026-27 season, a landmark par...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: Trusted Partner Network Debuts Fix It or Risk It to Tackle Everyday Security Risks

The Trusted Partner Network (TPN), the global content security initiative powere...

10/09/2026

NFL Brings Back Creator Programs to Deliver Access, Original Storytelling During the 2026 Season

The NFL is launching its most expansive creator programming yet, bringing togeth...

10/09/2026

Sportsnet Removes 150 Blackouts for More National NHL Games Than Ever in 2026-2027 Season

Sportsnet is set to deliver its biggest hockey season ever with a national sched...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: LiveU Showcases Starlink for News and Sports Broadcast as Clarus Integrated Reseller

LiveU is now a Clarus Integrated Reseller, bringing Starlink's fast, reliabl...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: Mimir Develops Single Layer for Content, Metadata, AI Orchestration

Mimir is the cloud-native media production platform built for teams that need to move media fast across live, archive, web, social, and broadcast workflows. At ...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: ATSC 3.0 To Receive Technology & Engineering Emmy Award for Significant Advancement in Television Broadcasting

ATSC is being honored with a 2026 Technology & Engineering Emmy Award by the Nat...

10/09/2026

Audio-Technica Presents BP880R Contact Transducer for Immersive Sports Broadcast, Production Audio Enhancement

Audio-Technica has introduced the BP880R Contact Transducer, a specialized micro...

10/09/2026

ESPN, ION Team Up to Broadcast WTGL Starting on Nov. 8

TMRW Sports in partnership with the LPGA, today announced multiyear U.S. media rights agreements with ESPN and Scripps Sports/ION to bring WTGL, the new women&#...

10/09/2026

SportsNet Pittsburgh Honors Roberto Clemente Day With Second-Annual Live Spanish-Language Pirates Telecast

SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) in partnership with Major League Baseball and the Pit...

10/09/2026

Tennis Channel Gives Fans Options With Premium Subscription on Roku

Tennis Channel announced today its launch as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel. Tennis Channel offers viewers a single home for Tennis Channel and Ten...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform With New Capabilities

Dolby has announced major updates to Dolby OptiView, its live sports platform, ahead of IBC 2026. The updates include new AI-powered intelligence to better unde...

10/09/2026

Dalet Names Brian Doheny as CEO

Dalet has appointed Brian Doheny as CEO. Doheny joined Dalet as President and Chief Revenue Officer in April 2026. Since joining Dalet, Doheny has led the compa...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: Sony Demonstrates Various Creative Solutions for Attendees at the RAI

Sony, as well as its partner company Nevion, is starting IBC 2026 with a handful of announcements for attendees to see on the show floor. Sony Announces the 4t...

10/09/2026

SoFi Stadium Solidifies Production Output With Multi-Layered Tech Renovation

The six-year-old venue is expanding capabilities for NFL action, Super Bowl LXI, 2028 Summer Olympics SoFi Stadium, as well as the surrounding area known as Ho...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: Sony Introduces SEL814G Fisheye Zoom G Lens

Sony Electronics has announced the SEL814G, the company's first fisheye zoom G Lens for full-frame Alpha E-mount cameras. The lens will be available in Octo...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: Telestream Expands Practical AI Capabilities Across Vantage and UP Platform

Telestream has announced an expansion of its Practical AI capabilities across th...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: Chyron and Haivision Announce Camera-to-Cloud Live Production Integration

Haivision and Chyron have announced a technology partnership integrating Haivisi...

09/09/2026

ManningCast Reveals 2026-27 Season Schedule with Heist Mini Movie

Omaha Productions has released ManningCast: Heist, a short film featuring Peyton and Eli Manning attempting to break into NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's o...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: Imagine Communications to Showcase XVR Updates

Imagine Communications will demonstrate the next evolution of XVR at IBC2026 (Stand 1.B73, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14). XVR is Imagine's channel-in-a-b...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: swXtch.io Launches AI Broadcast Orchestration Tool abbe

swXtch.io has announced abbe, an AI-based orchestration layer for live media workflows, making its world premiere at IBC2026 (Meeting Room 5.MR13, Hall 5, Septe...

09/09/2026

Inside the NFL Returns to X for Second Season, Marking 50th Anniversary

NFL Films has announced the second season of Inside the NFL on X as an X Original, premiering Wednesday, September 9. The series marks Inside the NFL's 50th...

09/09/2026

LiveU Expands AP Partnership with LU900Q Fleet and MAM Integration

LiveU has announced an expanded partnership with The Associated Press, deploying the largest fleet of LU900Q intelligent production units in the industry as par...

09/09/2026

Diversified to Consolidate New Jersey Operations into New Newark Facility

Diversified has announced plans to consolidate its four existing New Jersey locations into a new facility in Newark, expected to be fully operational by the end...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: Wisycom Showcases MATF Antenna Matrix, PFL RFoF Box, and MPR60 Updates

Wisycom will exhibit new RF products at IBC2026 (Stand 8.D60, September 11-14), including the MATF Wideband Antenna Matrix, PFL Portable RF over Fiber Box, and ...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: G&D and VuWall to Introduce vsNEO KVM-over-IP Platform

Guntermann & Drunck (G&D) and VuWall, both Panoptec companies, will introduce vsNEO at IBC2026 (Stand 8.B63, September 11, RAI Amsterdam). Pre-orders open in ea...

09/09/2026

Mo-Sys Completes Restructuring, Promotes Selin Kemal to Managing Director

Mo-Sys has completed a business restructuring and relocated to a new facility in Canada Water, London. As part of the reorganization, Selin Kemal has been promo...

09/09/2026

Aicox and TAG Video Systems Power Monitoring for Telefnicas TSAmediaHUB

Aicox has integrated TAG Video Systems' Core monitoring platform into Telef nica's TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure....

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: Blackmagic Design Releases DaVinci Resolve 21.1

Blackmagic Design has released DaVinci Resolve 21.1, a free update available now through the Blackmagic Design website. The release adds new AI tools, workflow ...