Perfect Game Introduces New Studio Show on the Road With Launch of PG Central

The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms

Perfect Game is bringing the studio show out to the ballpark.

The amateur-baseball organization is launching PG Central, a flagship program designed to originate onsite from its biggest events, blending news, analysis, interviews, and event coverage with the atmosphere surrounding some of the largest tournaments on the youth-baseball calendar.

The show debuts this week at the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, FL, with veteran baseball broadcaster Daron Sutton hosting and guests including former MLB All-Stars Ryan Klesko and Mo Vaughn and Basketball Hall of Famer and travel-baseball parent Jason Kidd.

For Perfect Game, though, the larger play is not simply adding more live content to its media portfolio. The organization wants PG Central to become part of the experience at the events themselves.

There hasn't been a flagship show like this for youth baseball and travel baseball, says Kash Shaikh, CMO/head of international, Perfect Game. We felt that we could evolve some of the things that PG has done in the past, put a new, fresh take on it, and have it onsite at our events, where you have the energy of players, coaches, family, and partners.

PG Central, Perfect Game's new onsite studio show, makes its debut at the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, FL, this week.The plan is for the show to travel throughout Perfect Game's event calendar beginning with its eight newly designated Flagship Events. The organization also has 10 Premier Events one tier below, potentially giving PG Central an even broader footprint as the concept matures.

The goal is, PG Central is going to be a core show and a core asset for us moving forward, says Shaikh.

From Magazine Show to Live Event

Perfect Game is no stranger to original programming. For years, the organization has produced PG Weekly, an edited magazine-style show. What PG Central adds is immediacy.

Instead of producing a program removed from the event, Perfect Game intends to drop a set directly into tournaments, react to what is happening on the field, and make players and other personalities available to the show almost immediately.

We have done a lot of edited shows through the years, says Sutton. What we haven't done through the years is this. I think the concept of being there with the athletes, of being on-set, is appealing to the event itself. It's a way to immediately react to what goes on at the events.

We're just taking it to the next level, he continues, with a live event onsite rather than a more traditional magazine show like we did for years.

Perfect Game ultimately envisions the set as much more than a quiet location for Sutton and a collection of guests. Shaikh describes the long-term concept as having something of a College GameDay feel: players, families, and fans surrounding the production and turning the show itself into another attraction at a tournament.

The goal is to be onsite for multiple days during a tournament so people can watch, says Shaikh. Eventually, we're going to have crowds out there.

That prospect particularly excites Sutton when he considers PG's younger events. At tournaments featuring 11- and 12-year-olds, for example, a standout player could potentially walk from the field directly onto the set following a memorable performance.

You have a young man who's 12 years old or 11 years old who does something spectacular, you bring him up right away, you sit him down on the set, Sutton says. It's kind of like what the big boys get to do at the World Series when they bring the guys over.

Four Cameras, a Drone, and a Distributed Crew

The first editions from Jupiter will technically be presented as live, allowing the production team to apply some editing to the initial programs as the format and set are put through their first real-world reps. After that, Perfect Game expects the show to shift to a true live production.

The current setup is built around a four-camera shoot, supplemented occasionally by a drone and a full audio package.

There will be editing involved in the first couple of episodes, Sutton explains. Beyond that, going forward, it'll be live. We wanted to make sure in the pilot, with the release of the dates that are so important, [that] they're going to be seen over and over again.

The production operation is also pulling together personnel from multiple regions. Crew members are coming in from Georgia and South Florida. Longtime Perfect Game media veteran Steve Banta oversees the team remotely from California.

On the PG Central set in Jupiter, FL, with (from left) Mo Vaughn, Will Burge, Daron Sutton, Ryan Klesko, and Kash ShaikhAdding a traveling studio production to already packed tournament operations required Perfect Game to expand the media resources supporting the project. Shaikh acknowledges that putting another production onto the event calendar added pressure but says that PG is relying on experienced personnel and bringing in additional talent rather than simply layering the show onto the group responsible for everything else.

We've got a great squad that we're adding as incremental components to the whole event experience, he says. I think that's what's going to make it possible.

Sutton sees the project as a logical next step for a Perfect Game media operation that has been reshaped over the past few years, particularly around social media and live content. It does take a few more dollars. It does take some investment. It does take selling it to leaders in our company and then hopefully getting a great partner who wants to come in.

PG Central launches with ZT Athletics as its presenting partner.

Building One Show for Every Platform

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