New Broadcast-Control Rooms at UTSA Reflect College Sports' New Media Realities Added capabilities support American Athletic Conference production mandates By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
College sports is looking and sounding increasingly like what viewers consume watching major leagues on national broadcast networks. The growing sophistication and capabilities of rapidly growing university-based production facilities reflect a combination of dynamics: the Moore's Law effect (increased digital-technology power with declining costs), the use of broadcast sports as part of recruitment and outreach strategies in the face of double-digit decreases in four-year-school enrollments, and college sports-conference mandates increasing the minimum number of annual productions by member schools.
UTSA's Katie Meyers: [Pandemic-related delay] made it a little bit of a challenge to try to get current, but everything we have now is basically the current model.
What the enhanced technology can allow schools to accomplish is remarkable. For instance, live game broadcasts by University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) Athletics last March launched two state-of-the-art broadcast-control rooms inside its Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence.
The new control rooms, built and fitted out at a cost of $5 million-plus, will allow UTSA Athletics to produce high-quality live productions that meet the standards set forth by the American Athletic Conference and ESPN. The new broadcast-control rooms will produce ESPN+ broadcasts or streaming for all UTSA men's and women's basketball home-game broadcasts, as well as the majority of home-game broadcasts for baseball, soccer, softball, and volleyball. The control rooms will also be used for live videoboard productions at events in the Convocation Center.
Completing the broadcast-production project was no small feat, says Assistant Athletics Director, Creative Services, Katie Meyers, who oversees broadcast production for UTSA Athletics. It took more than two years of planning and execution by a number of parties: UTSA Athletics, the American Conference, ESPN, as well as our external partners who assisted us in the build and execution of the physical control room and the elements in our facilities.
By the conclusion of the 2023-24 academic year, UTSA Athletics will have produced nearly 70 live broadcasts, both internally and in conjunction with Jeff Watts Productions, which previously handled UTSA's sports-broadcast productions. UTSA Athletics expects to produce more than 100 live events annually through the new broadcast-control rooms.
The Technical Package The new facilities deploy Ross video-production platforms: Mira replay units, Ultrix routers, Xpression for graphics, a Tria for clip playback, and two Ross switchers. Audio gear - a Yamaha QL5 board as the main audio console, a smaller Yamaha DM3-D board for pass-throughs and Jumbotron shows - rides on a Dante network. The packages were provided by Dallas-based integrator Digital Resources, which built the facilities, designed over the past three years by a series of staff directors during that period.
USTA's Elliott Griesen oversees day-to-day operations of the athletics department's broadcast and videoboard productions.
A live broadcast is produced by a 12-person freelance staff: a play-by-play announcer, color analyst, producer, director, broadcast engineer, graphics operator, replay operator, camera shader, three camera operators, and an audio engineer. Having joined the staff on April 22, Director, Sports Production, Elliott Griesen oversees the day-to-day operations of UTSA Athletics' live broadcast and videoboard productions.
This all started in about 2020, so it has been a 3 -year process, partly interrupted by the pandemic, says Meyers. The delay, she adds, affected technology choices - positively, as it turns out - as platforms changed and evolved during that time: It made it a little bit of a challenge to try to get current, but everything we have now is basically the current model. Ordering in 2020, 2021, everything was very much delayed, which kind of helped us in the long run to get the newer models.
Staffing Challenges An ongoing challenge for collegiate sports-production facilities is staffing, one exacerbated as the production-output scale increases. Obliged by the American Athletic Conference to produce a minimum of 50 games other than football and basketball annually and expected to produce 100 or more shows a year going forward, the school - in its first year as a member - had to hit the ground running after its March 16 opening. (ESPN's minimum production requirements have been a challenge since the SEC and ACC Networks were founded in 2014 and 2019, respectively.)
At the moment, Meyers says, the facilities are between 15% and 20% student-staffed, with the rest handled by freelancers. However, journeyman broadcast technicians are not easy to find and keep these days.
Probably my biggest challenge getting the studio up and running was to just find [staff], she notes. A lot of the students we talk to want to be on camera and not behind the camera. It has been a struggle to find people that are interested in doing this. A lot of the people that worked with us also work with the [NBA] Spurs, so, when there were conflicts with those games, it was definitely a challenge to find 11 people to run a show.
Currently 15%-20% student-staffed, University of Texas San Antonio Athletics productions target 100% student-run by the end of the 2024-25 season.
Another big challenge was that the facility very rarely had the same people every day for every game, resulting, Meyers says, in a sometimes inconsistent outcome. The goal by the end of the 2024-25 season, she says
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
Spotify's partnership with NAVER, Korea's leading digital platform, is built around one simple goal: making it easier for listeners in Korea to discover...
26/03/2026
Exclusive to ComposerCloud for first month
Sample library and virtual instrument gurus EastWest have announced the upcoming release of a new virtual drum i...
26/03/2026
Friday 27 March
Friday 27 March will mark Dynamic Range Day 2026, the annual day of online activity that was started in 2010 by mastering engineer Ian Sheph...
26/03/2026
Includes four separate instruments
Max Richter's SRM Sounds venture have just announced their fifth release, ASMR Choir. Captured at the main live room ...
26/03/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), has been tasked with administering the Sixth Presi...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Thursday 26 March 2026
HBO Max included for Sky and NOW customers from 26 March...
26/03/2026
Thursday 26 March 2026
Sky Sets Iconic Costumes Dancing Together Like Never Before' in Brand CampaignTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy o...
26/03/2026
Wuppertal March 26, 2026
CS live Builds Future-Ready OB Van With Riedel MediorNet and hi Control SystemRiedel Communications today announced that Czech-based ...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
The Truthers, Starring Jose Coronado and St phanie Magnin, Pre...
26/03/2026
Enhancements to Harmonic's Sports Streaming Solution Introduce Server-Side Multiview, Contextual Metadata-Driven Advertising, Dynamic In-Stream Ads and Robu...
26/03/2026
Open the report
Our 2025 report brings together results from 79 business magazine titles across 22 market sectors, published by 49 media owners. Over the year,...
26/03/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
26/03/2026
RT Commercial today announced Fiat as sponsor of The Louise Duffy Show on RT Radio 1, Weekdays 3pm 4pm.
The Louise Duffy Show is the home of daytime music...
26/03/2026
That gaming backlog won't clear itself - GeForce NOW is here to help. Stream the latest titles straight from the cloud across a variety of devices.
This we...
26/03/2026
Wayne, N.J., March 26, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the latest product li...
New Broadcast-Control Rooms at UTSA Reflect College Sports' New Media Realities Added capabilities support American Athletic Conference production mandates By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
