FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championship

FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten ChampionshipBeverly Hills Aerials drone will fly in Lucas Oil Stadium for the first time at the title gameBy Mark J. Burns

Friday, December 5, 2025 - 12:02 pm

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The much anticipated Big Ten Championship Game between Ohio State and Indiana - ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively - will take place in primetime tomorrow at the NFL's Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The matchup at 8 p.m. ET on FOX features the last two undefeated teams in NCAA Division I football.

The overall production for the Big Ten Championship is different from FOX Sports' typical Big Noon Kickoff on autumn Saturdays: the title game is run by the conference, which means that the broadcaster is more integrated into the pregame timelines and planning procedures.

On a typical week, says Chuck McDonald, lead college football game producer, FOX Sports, we work primarily with the home team on pregame logistics and coordinate interviews with the away team. For this game, it's structured more like an NFL Championship or even a Super Bowl: every detail of the schedule is dictated, from walk-throughs and arrivals to interviews and more.

Adds Dave Jones, director, technical operations, FOX Sports, Everyone is thrilled to be back in Indy for the Big Ten Championship, especially for a matchup like Indiana-Ohio State, says. We're excited to be doing a game like this on the biggest stage and for viewers to be able to enjoy and feel the excitement from home.

According to McDonald, FOX Sports completed most of its setup on Thursday and expected to be nearly game-ready by the end of the day. Friday is dedicated to last-minute preparations and full rehearsals for the pre/postgame and halftime ceremonies. The entire week carries a much higher level of intensity, he notes.

More-Flexible Camera PlacementBeing inside an NFL venue like Lucas Oil Stadium, he adds, provides far more flexibility with camera placement than a typical college venue. For example, a week ago at Michigan Stadium for Ohio State-Michigan, there was no room for a cart on either sideline. At Lucas Oil Stadium, FOX Sports will deploy a single cart on the near sideline and a double-headed cart on the far sideline.

Additionally, the broadcaster has worked with Beverly Hills Aerials over the past several years to integrate its drones into different sports broadcasts. As a primary aerial partner, the drone provider flew at different matchups in 2025, including the Week 1 college football game between Texas and Ohio State and, in November, for Michigan vs. Northwestern at Wrigley Field. For the first time ever, Beverly Hills Aerials was granted approval to fly at Michigan Stadium for last week's game between the Wolverines and Buckeyes.

At Lucas Oil Stadium, it will be FOX Sports and Beverly Hills Aerials' first opportunity to fly a drone inside the bowl at the Big Ten Championship, allowing the broadcaster to capture completely new perspectives of the event, according to Jones.

Leveraging audio and player-coach access has been a key component of FOX Sports across all its sports broadcasts, including college football. You'll hear all the pageantry, says McDonald, from the bands and cheerleaders to the crowd chants and sing-alongs that have become such a huge part of the college atmosphere. In recent years, we've also added a mic on the umpire to bring in even more on-field sound, which greatly enhances what we capture with our six RF parabs and camera mics.

It has been a major focus for our crew, he continues, to make sure the broadcast truly sounds like a college game, while still capturing the intensity on the field. We do as much as possible live, but, when the moment calls for it, we also use real-time replays of big hits, missed kicks off the uprights, or any other standout action to heighten the experience.

Specialty Cameras Highlight the 45-Camera ComplementA total of 45 cameras will be deployed for the FOX Sports broadcast, including goal-line pylons, line-to-gain pylons, ref cameras, SkyCam, two sideline camera carts, a jib, RF Steadicam, and the drone.

In addition, 10 super-slo-mo cameras will be part of the overall production to capture the emotion and fine detail of the game, McDonald says, adding, We want the viewer to feel like they're at the event but also to enhance it in ways that make you want to experience it with us. Our crew wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world for a game of this magnitude, and we want the audience to feel that same energy.

FOX Sports personnel involved in producing the Big Ten Championship include Director Rich Dewey, Technical Director Robert Goosely, and A1 Shawn Peacock. The entire audio team is incredible, McDonald notes, capturing the game sounds that make the broadcast come alive and elevating the moment with the right music. Associate Directors Robert Slawsby and Ryan Dougherty, he adds, stay on top of every storyline alongside our outstanding graphics and research team of Brooks Clark, Evan Pettengill, and Steve Owens.

The FOX Sports technical team - led by Carlos Gonzalez and Brian Obert - and operations group - featuring Dave Jones, Rob Mikulicka, and Lindsay Waine - also play integral roles in the overall production.

And FOX's No. 1 college-football on-air trio - play-by-play caller Gus Johnson, analyst Joel Klatt, and sideline reporter Jenny Taft - will be on hand.

Roughly 225 people - full-time and part-time FOX Sports staff, contractors, vendors, broadcast talent - are involved in the championship game production.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/12/05/fox-sports-returns-to-indianapo...
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