The X Games bid adieu to Austin this week: the event's third year at Circuit of the Americas (CoTA) will be its last. The ESPN production departs South-by-Southwest a very different event from the one in Los Angeles in 2013 and leaves a legacy of technical and production innovation.
I think every X Games evolves, and we learn something and get smarter about how we do things, where we place cameras, and the layout of the venue, which makes the best fan experience better and translates into a better TV show, says ESPN Remote Operations Producer Patty Mattero. Another [innovation] is the heavy-music integration with Metallica and Kanye the past two years and now Blink 182 and All-Time Low this year. We've gotten to the point where we're doing two live performances this year during the event by pulling a stage out in front of the Big Air and doing one song each night in primetime. It's a pretty big undertaking and something that we're really proud of.
Camera Complement: Repos, Repos, Repos
Although the X Games production always boasts a sizable camera complement, it's the number of repos that reveals just how big a show ESPN puts on. The network uses 39 cameras in all, but 30 of them will be deployed at a total of 101 locations, each covering as many as seven events. The remaining nine cameras are Fletcher robos and Marshall POVs from Admiral Video, which are used at 18 locations, including on course, in announce booths, and in judging areas.
Operators with handhelds, scissor lifts with mounted cameras, and robos are shuttled from event to event, explains Shane Smith, ESPN Remote Operations, maximizing inventory utilization and man-hours while allowing for a full spectrum of coverage for every televised event.
Besides the robos and POVs, ESPN's specialty gear at CoTA comprises two Sony HDC-4300 4K/high-speed cameras, two jib cranes, a 125-ft. camera crane, two 85-ft. Strada camera cranes, three RF handhelds (provided by BSI), and a helicopter with gyro-stabilized camera attached.
The [camera] numbers aren't necessarily all that overwhelming, but it's pretty impressive that the team can cover so much competition over the four days and so many different venues with this [level of camera complement], says Paul DiPietro, coordinating director, ESPN Remote Production Operations. We don't go in with 700 cameras and plop them down. They really maximize the use of their gear to make things as efficient as possible. What this team can do with the resources they're given is pretty amazing.
Inside the Compound and On the Set
At ESPN's CoTA truck compound, NEP MIRA M-14 (A and B units) is handling Venue A (Big Air, Vert, and Park, as well as the X Games Extra studio show); NEP SS24 (A and B) is handling Venue B (Flat Track racing on Thursday night and MotoX and BMX Dirt/Street the remaining days). Because M-14 carries Grass Valley cameras and SS24 carries Sony cameras, the X Games team was faced with a new challenge this year.
Usually, we're all-Sony. So we can mix and move camera heads around, and we don't have to be quite as careful. But, this year, we've got one Grass Valley truck and one Sony truck, says ESPN Operations Specialist Joe Rainey. We've just had to plan out carefully and not paint ourselves into any corners as far as repos or what goes with what. But the teams have done a great job with that; we're not really anticipating any problems.
ESPN has also rolled out NEP's ESU2 to handle signal distribution throughout CoTA, as well as eight office trailers. Also on hand are BSI's mobile unit for RF frequency coordination.
After previously locating its primary set atop the paddock, ESPN has relocated it to CoTA's Galleria near the entrance to the festival villages in order to interact more with the crowd onsite.
We decided to go for a more of [an ESPN College] GameDay feel and get closer to the public, says Mattero. We're going to do a combination set where we'll use it for our set, SportsCenter integration, and later each night for our X Games Extra show.
Intel Curie Returns
After debuting at Winter X Games in Aspen in January, Intel's pencil-eraser-size Curie module is back in action in Austin for the Big Air and BMX Dirt competitions. The module transmits real-time acceleration, motion, and location data via more than a dozen antennas mounted down the sides of the courses. The Intel team delivers the metrics to the Visual Technologies (VT) operation housed in ESPN's truck, where real-time graphics are generated automatically for the ESPN telecast.
Audio Goes Dante
X Games Austin will be once again be presented in 5.1 surround sound, and ESPN will deploy more than 350 individual mic positions to capture the sounds around the venue, all interconnected through a variety of transport mediums, such as Andiamo MADI and Calrec Hydra. Although the audio side of the production is very similar to previous iterations, the ESPN Event Productions (EP) team is breaking new ground in its onsite videoboard production, basing the audio infrastructure on Dante.
[EP] is using Dante this year for their master distribution plan for audio, says Rainey. We're just dipping our toes into that water with a MADI-to-Dante interface between the two groups, which is a unique technology to this year.
At-Home Production Is Back
ESPN's X Games production was a pioneer in at-home production years ago, and that legacy continues this year in Austin. The X Games production team will once again be tied to ESPN's broadcast center in Bristol, CT, via two 1-GBps fiber paths, allowing the bulk of the features- and craft-editing staff to remain in Bristol to take advantage of the facilities there.
Content can be pushed and pulled via file transfer and ESPN's EVS portal. ESPN has five
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
The X Games bid adieu to Austin this week: the event's third year at Circuit of the Americas (CoTA) will be its last. The ESPN production departs South-by-Southwest a very different event from the one in Los Angeles in 2013 and leaves a legacy of technical and production innovation.
