MLB Network produces the host broadcast, and FOX layers in cameras, studio presence, production resources for the tournament's biggest gamesAs the World Baseball Classic returns with global momentum following its dramatic 2023 finale, FOX Sports is preparing a production strategy that balances efficiency with the ability to scale up when the tournament reaches its biggest stages.
The key to the plan: relying on MLB Network's host-produced world feed for the games themselves and adding production resources and editorial control where it matters most - particularly once the semifinals and championship arrive in Miami.
For us, this is the second time around, says Francisco Paco Contreras, executive director, technical operations, FOX Sports. The first time we did it, we started building it during the Super Bowl. We didn't have much time and didn't know what to expect. Now we have the right amount of crew to make sure we don't fall short on anything.
With pool play underway across four international venues - Houston, Miami, San Juan, and Tokyo - the production responsibilities are carefully divided. MLB Network is producing the world-feed broadcasts from each ballpark, and FOX Sports supplements the coverage at selected venues and builds toward a larger footprint as the tournament progresses.
Building Around the World Feed
At the heart of FOX Sports' approach is what Contreras describes internally as a World Feed Plus model: an operational strategy that leverages the host broadcast while enabling FOX to tailor the presentation for its own audience.
We add some A2s, some V2s, stage managers, utilities, he explains. That's just because having talent onsite creates a different challenge for us.
For pool play in Houston and Miami, FOX is splitting crews between the two venues. The network supplements the MLB Network feed with a handful of additional cameras - two mid-field positions, a high-home angle, a center-field look - along with an RF camera that can serve both game and studio coverage. The approach allows the broadcaster to maintain a consistent editorial identity without duplicating the entire host-production infrastructure.
Coverage from San Juan and Tokyo, meanwhile, will be a straight pass-through of the world feed, allowing the broadcaster to focus its physical resources on the two U.S. venues.
Even with a relatively light technical footprint during the early rounds, FOX's presence onsite still requires careful staffing across technical and production roles to support talent and ensure smooth operations.
Having the talent onsite creates a different level of complexity, Contreras notes. You need the stage managers, the utilities, the audio support - all the people who help make that environment work.
Moving Beyond the HRP Model
Another major operational shift for FOX Sports this year is moving away from the Home Run Production (HRP) model that was used more extensively during the previous tournament.
In that setup, FOX relied heavily on shared host resources and smaller HRP kits. This year, the broadcaster is bringing in a dedicated mobile unit to give the production team greater control over workflows.
We tried doing it as more of an HRP, but that didn't work that well for us, says Contreras. We added a truck this time. It's going to make it a lot smoother for us. It's a lot easier to have a truck than being shared resources with MLB on everything.
Mobile TV Group 53-RP mobile unit will support FOX's operations and streamline integration with the additional cameras and production elements.
Giving the event the big time feel viewers expect, many of the key players from the MLB on FOX team will be a part of the production: VP, Field Ops/Engineering, Brad Cheney; Coordinating Technical Producer Thomas Lynch; Game/Studio Technical Producer Lou D'Ermilio; Game Technical Producers Taihe Miller, Agustine Rivera, and Chad Piraino; Game Ops Manager Nick Utley (in Houston); Game/Studio Ops Manager Jennifer Freund; Game Ops Manager Pam Chvotkin; and Studio Ops Manager Anil Letherwala.
Even as FOX builds its own coverage around the world feed, Contreras says, one of the most exciting aspects of the tournament is the host broadcaster's continued experimentation with new camera technology. MLB Network plans to introduce several elements into the host broadcast, including drones and DirtCams positioned around the field.
I'm very excited to see what MLB is doing, says Contreras. They have quite a bit of stuff that they're bringing into this.
Dialing It Up for the Finals
Although FOX's footprint during pool play remains relatively streamlined, the operation will expand significantly when the tournament reaches its final rounds.
For the semifinals and championship at loanDepot park in Miami, FOX will deploy a full studio presence along the first-base side of the stadium, with Kevin Burkhardt, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and David Ortiz providing pre/postgame analysis. The lead game broadcast team of Joe Davis, John Smoltz, and Ken Rosenthal will call the semifinals and title game.
For Contreras and the FOX production crew, the talent presence onsite significantly elevates the energy of the event. We have our main talent onsite - Kevin, Jeter, A-Rod, and Ortiz, he says. It creates a different excitement.
The larger technical setup in Miami will also allow FOX to deploy additional production resources and integrate more fully with the tournament's biggest games.
Riding the Momentum of 2023
Beyond the technical planning, there's a sense among the production crew that the tournament itself has reached a new level of global relevance.
The 2023 World Baseball Classic concluded with one of the most memorable moments in recent baseball history: Team Japan's Shohei Ohtani strik
