Big West Conference Taps Broadcast Management Group for Championship Events for ESPN BMG's Las Vegas-based centralized production hub will house live-production operations By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Thursday, September 16, 2021 - 3:11 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
In collegiate athletics, mass production and distribution of live coverage of sports events isn't just for the Power Five anymore. These days, every collegiate conference and its member institutions are looking to deliver live game coverage to not just selected sports but all of its sports.
That's what made this such an important summer for the Big West Conference.
In July, the Big West announced, in addition to a new logo, a key distribution deal with ESPN under which more than 600 Big West events - including numerous conference championships in both men's and women's sports - will stream on ESPN .
While production of many of the live games will be the responsibility of the schools, the conference office is tasked with the live coverage of 13 conference championship events hosted throughout the academic year.
It's a great time to be at the Big West, says Big West Conference Commissioner Dan Butterly. There's a significant number of changes going on here with our operations, our office locations, our staff. [The ESPN partnership] provides our institutions the means to go from producing 60 regular-season games and championship events a year to 600 and above. The ESPN package having an ESPN name to it definitely helps the distribution opportunities for our institutions. We're excited to join that family.
To meet the production demands on those championships, the conference has turned to Broadcast Management Group, a full-scale production-services company that is building up REMI (or at-home) production-operations hubs across the country, including its new crown jewel in Las Vegas.
Broadcast Management Group will produce Big West Conference championship events for ESPN from its Las Vegas production hub.
[At-home production] is where the future's going, says Butterly. The Broadcast Management Facilities, and what they've got on the Las Vegas Strip, was amazing to walk through. The things that they're able to do, the technologies that they're able to utilize were immaculate. We're really excited at what they bring and what they're able to do. It really is a benefit for us.
In addition to live coverage of many of these events, BMG will provide studio-show and highlight-show coverage, all originating from BMG's Las Vegas-based production hub. BMG officially launched a sports division in January and has assembled a team of about 20 directors, editors, producers, graphics and playback operators, and technical directors.
Our approach to production is centralized technology and decentralized staffing, says Todd Mason, CEO, Broadcast Management Group. That is what a lot of the sports networks have been doing for a number of years now. Our model is way beyond [a response to] COVID. It's being able to put the camera [operators] on the field, the commentators at the game, but then bringing all the video signals back to our cloud broadcast center.
It's almost irrelevant as to where it is, he continues, because it's the cloud center. The rest of the control-room team can be either there or in various locations around the country. It allows us to efficiently leverage our staff nationwide, reduce the cost of producing an event, while maintaining the highest quality and booking the best people.
The first championship broadcast from this collaboration will be the 2021 Big West Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships hosted by UC Davis. The full schedule is as follows:
Men's and Women's Cross Country: 30-minute recap show (Oct. 29)
Women's Soccer: Live finals coverage (Nov. 4-7)
Men's Soccer: Live finals coverage (Nov. 4-13)
Men's and Women's Basketball: Live coverage of all games (March 8-12, 2022)
Women's Golf: 30-minute recap show (April 10-12, 2022)
Men's and Women's Tennis: Live finals coverage (April 28-May 1, 2022)
Beach Volleyball: Live finals coverage (April 29-30, 2022)
Men's Golf: 30-minute recap show (May 1-3, 2022)
Men's and Women's Track & Field: 60-minute recap show (May 6-14, 2022)
With many events taking place on the campuses of Big West institutions, both Butterly and Mason note, there will be plenty of collaboration between the schools and BMG.
We have our technology infrastructure, so that we can do everything turnkey in-house for them, says Mason. But we also have a systems-integration division that designs and builds facilities. That's where we can partner with the universities to support them as they're upgrading their own facilities.
That will also manifest itself in opportunities for students interested in learning live sports production.
That's one of the things that we're both very interested in: helping to train the next generation in our industry, says Mason. Our industry is aging, in the sports world particularly. A lot of people have been doing it for a long time, and some are starting to age out. We need to look at the next generation of talent. We're able to work with their students and help them, train them in real-life, real-world production experiences. We look to work with the universities on technology. We look to work with them on helping to train their students on how to be good broadcasters and to tell the story of the Big West universities.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 22.5 MILLION IN 2025...
22/07/2026
In the Opinion of the Censor airs Monday 27 July at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player
In the Opinion of the Censor looks at how films for theatrical release wer...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
21/07/2026
New research involving a cross-section of Mongolias independent media landscape finds enthusiasm for AI as a tool to improve efficiency, sustainability and resi...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
21/07/2026
In a time of disarray in regional sports broadcasting, the league will provide c...
21/07/2026
When NEP designed one of its largest recurring mobile production unit fleets for PGA TOUR
coverage, the leading media services provider faced a familiar challe...
21/07/2026
High-end analogue channel strip boasts plug-in recall
Originally revealed as a prototype back at NAMM 2024, the Channex Studio channel strip represented a b...
21/07/2026
Relies on same DSP as plug-in range
Musik Hack's line-up has been influenced heavily by founder Stan Greene's work as a mixing engineer, and their M...
21/07/2026
Official collaboration with boutique builder Dirty Boy Pedals
Warm Audio have just announced the launch of a new guitar pedal range created in collaboration...
21/07/2026
SBS scores biggest ever FIFA World Cup Reach as Spain triumph in the final
21 July, 2026
Media releases
Spain v Argentina attracted a Total TV reach of al...
21/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz showcases broad range of EMC test solutions at EMC SIPI 2026 in ...
21/07/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery's unbroken lead is interrupted as sports and live mus...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Across the TV and streaming ecosystem, industry players face mounting pressure to do more with less. They must simplify operations, protect premium content and ...
21/07/2026
Tuxera, a leading prover of quality-assured file systems and networking technologies, is bringing its latest advances in connectivity performance to the media w...
21/07/2026
COW Jobs: Apple Motion Expert for Custom FCP Rigged Graphics Package
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
HIRING: Apple Motion Expert for Custom FCP ...
21/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, will use its presence at IBC2026 (stand 7.A01, Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September) to...
21/07/2026
Calrec will be located in Hall 8, on Stand C47
Beyond bigger
For years, broadcast facilities were built around one assumption: provision for the biggest pro...
21/07/2026
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, will discuss its future-facing developments for the new generation of medi...
21/07/2026
nxtedition returns to IBC2026 with its consolidated production platform, showing how scripting, editing, graphics, AI-assisted tools and automation can work wit...
21/07/2026
C2PA content signing helps broadcasters, public institutions, and publishers give audiences a verifiable record of where their video content came from and how i...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
New capability centralizes collaboration, feedback, security and status tracking within VIDA, providing a structured, auditable approach to master quality contr...
21/07/2026
Lightcraft Launches Exclusive Spark Story Beta for Filmmakers and Creators at SI...
21/07/2026
Indie Road Movie Where in the Hell Shot with Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Brie Clayton July 20, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist blends vintage film looks to shape...
21/07/2026
Which USS Defiant Pulse Phaser effect is better?
Graham Quince July 20, 2026
0 Comments
Aargh, ever since @DarkRavenProductions posted a comment ask...
21/07/2026
The AI era runs on AI infrastructure. Many of these advanced systems are built a...
21/07/2026
X-Rite Pantone and NIFT Partner to Build Color Management Skills for India's...
Big West Conference Taps Broadcast Management Group for Championship Events for ESPN BMG's Las Vegas-based centralized production hub will house live-production operations By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
