
Wilder vs. Fury II: ESPN, Fox Sports Team Up on Outsize Boxing Production in Vegas Fight marks the largest boxing show ever for ESPN, which is overseeing the operation By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, February 21, 2020 - 3:03 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Saturday's highly anticipated PPV fight between undefeated heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder and unbeaten lineal champ Tyson Fury isn't just the biggest heavyweight bout in recent memory; it also marks the biggest boxing production in network history for ESPN.
I think, without a shadow of a doubt, this is definitely the biggest, ESPN Remote Operations Manager Kim Bloomstone says of the operation in Las Vegas. This is our Super Bowl for boxing. There's no question about that.
ESPN's production at Wilder-Fury II features a JITAcam, an overhead mic array, a Flycam and much more.
Although ESPN and Fox Sports are collaborating on extensive Wilder-Fury II onsite studio coverage throughout the week and on fight night, ESPN is handling the entire technical setup and execution of the production at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday.
ESPN has rolled out 38 cameras (more than ever deployed for an ESPN boxing production), a 4DReplay system for 360-degree replays, a unique microphone array over the ring, and a horde of other tech toys to bring the ultra-high-profile fight to millions of viewers around the world.
Fight Week: A Close Collaboration on The Strip
Since the fight is a joint venture between Top Rank Boxing, which co-promotes Fury and has a rights deal with ESPN, and Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), which promotes Wilder and has a rights deal with Fox, Saturday's PPV fight will be a cross-promotion between ESPN+ and Fox Sports.
Max Kellerman (left) interviews Deontay Wilder as part of ESPN's fight-week programming from the MGM Grand in Vegas.
With that in mind, the ESPN and Fox Sports production teams have collaborated closely on fight-week shows leading up to Saturday, and the on-air talent is a mix from both networks. ESPN and Fox Sports have also shared preproduced elements from the preview programming for all shows across both networks. In addition, ESPN and Fox joined forces to develop a broadcaster-agnostic logo and fresh graphics package for the PPV presentation.
In addition to covering the ceremonial arrival of both fighters at the MGM Grand lobby on Tuesday, both ESPN2 and FS1 (as well as ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes) broadcast the Final Press Conference on Wednesday and will carry the Official Weigh-In later today at the arena.
ESPN's First Take aired live from this boxing-ring-style set inside the MGM Grand on Thursday and Friday.
ESPN has erected a studio set styled as a boxing ring at the MGM Grand near the KA theater, where SportsCenter on the Road (Tuesday-Sunday), Max on Boxing (Tuesday and Thursday at MGM, Wednesday and Friday from the arena), and First Take (Thursday-Friday) are producing shows throughout the week.
According to ESPN Senior Operations Specialist Joe Rainey, the broadcaster is using the small amount of single-mode fiber available at the MGM Grand to connect the casino set with the main truck compound at the arena, where studio shows are being produced from a control room inside NEP NCP 10 B unit.
We built in a lot of setup time since it's such a big [event] with so many different pieces, says Bloomstone. We parked trucks Saturday morning and had a two-day compound build, running as much cable as we could, powering the trucks up, interconnecting everything, and making sure it all worked as it should. We ran cable into the casino to the boxing-ring set location for Tuesday, and then we got the arena released to us [that afternoon], so we hit the ground running for setup in there.
Fox Sports has brought the FS1 studio show Speak for Yourself to the MGM Sports Book this week in advance of Wilder-Fury II.
For its part, Fox Sports has brought the FS1 studio show Speak for Yourself to Las Vegas, broadcasting from the MGM Sports Book Wednesday through Friday (including interviews with Fury, Wilder, and a mix of ESPN and Fox boxing analysts). The Wilder-Fury matchup marks just the latest chapter in Fox Sports' continuing partnership with PBC, which includes 10 events on Fox, 12 on FS1, and four or five PPVs per year.
We're excited for this fight because it has elevated the profile of boxing in general, and we've been able to promote it on an incredible level in the biggest sporting events like the Super Bowl and Daytona 500, says Bill Wanger, EVP, head of programming and scheduling, Fox Sports. It continues the evolution of our boxing program with PBC, where we're mounting a charge to bring boxing back to the masses and create mainstream stars out of these fighters.
Fight Night: An Epic Production of an Epic Match
When the PPV begins at 9 p.m. on Saturday night, the ESPN production team will have a bevy of production tools at their disposal. Among the most intriguing are a pair of new bumper cam POV systems developed in-house by ESPN and installed in two corners of the ring. The units are buried in the mat and feature a Marshall lipstick camera with a wide-angle lens and a stabilized mount.
ESPN and Fox will combine to host plenty of prefight programming from inside MGM Grand Garden Arena.
It is stabilized so that there's not a lot of bounce - in particular when the fighters hit the mat [after a knockdown], says Lynne West, senior operations producer, ESPN. It's totally home-grown, and we've been using it for a couple of fights. We're continuing to develop it, and it's still a work in progress, but we're really excited to have it in the corners for this fight. It gives us a different angle shooting up at the fighters, and we are able to [capture] them coming down perfectly whe
North America Stories
02/06/2026
Tennis Channel has completed a transition from satellite-based distribution to a...
02/06/2026
Daktronics has announced the 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day educational event for high school educators and student production teams, taking place Jun...
02/06/2026
Fandango will bring Telemundo's live Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA W...
02/06/2026
All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) has announced the live television schedule...
02/06/2026
Spalk, a cloud-based multilingual commentary and production platform, has announced three new partnerships: Ligue 1 (English and Portuguese highlights), Eurolea...
02/06/2026
NHL Network's 2026 Stanley Cup Final coverage began June 1 with NHL Tonight: Stanley Cup Final Media Day from the Carolina Hurricanes' Lenovo Center at ...
02/06/2026
Matrox Video has announced the Maevex MGX Series, a lineup of IPMX-ready video e...
02/06/2026
Marshall Electronics will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7521), showcasing a lineup of 4K and HD compact POV cameras for corporate, education, hospitality, wo...
02/06/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated have...
02/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C50...
02/06/2026
Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced the promotion of Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO. In his new role, Marchitto will oversee system design across ...
02/06/2026
The NHL has announced that Brothers Osborne will headline a free outdoor concert...
02/06/2026
CP Communications has announced the appointment of its first two female executives in the company's 40-year history. Tabitha Coleman has been named Vice Pre...
02/06/2026
The Lighting Design Group (LDG) has announced the completion of Studio C at Yahoo's headquarters at 770 Broadway in Manhattan. The studio launched April 24 ...
02/06/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (Z) has announced a partnership with FIFA to broadcast FIFA World Cup 2026, FIFA World Cup 2030, FIFA Women's World Cup 2...
02/06/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
02/06/2026
The department is broadcasting NCAA Baseball Super Regionals at Plainsman Park this weekend
Broadcast and production crews at Division I institutions are busy ...
02/06/2026
The initiative is extends beyond the league's arenas to team training rinks,...
02/06/2026
Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Pen lope Cruz, and Edward Norton appear in The Invite by Olivia Wilde, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Co...
02/06/2026
blueCORE standalone processors headline solutions designed to simplify the trans...
02/06/2026
The TV agency was one of the earliest adopters of Nielsen's local television...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Grass Valley today announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP to transform its newsroom produc...
02/06/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, announces its new Model 385 Mic/Intercom Beltpack. The Mode...
02/06/2026
The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 2...
02/06/2026
More signals, higher quality, and outstanding ingest and streaming flexibility deliver professional results in a small, all-in-one footprint...
02/06/2026
farmerswife will be featured on the Modena Media & Entertainment stand at this year's Mediatech Africa 2026, giving visitors an opportunity to explore the l...
02/06/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17 19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Back to All News
Discover Your Next Book-to-Screen Obsession With Our New Dedicated Hub
Product
02 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Dear most vor...
02/06/2026
New LinkedIn Data: 90% of C-Suite Leaders are Continuously Building Skills to Lead in the AI Era Published on Jun 2, 2026 Categories: Data and insights
Lin...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Back to All News
KAULITZ & KAULITZ Season 3
Entertainment
01 June 2026
GlobalGermany
Link copied to clipboard
Our favorite twins are back: streaming on Ne...
01/06/2026
Agentic AI is getting physical.
At COMPUTEX on Tuesday, NVIDIA announced NVIDIA JetPack 7.2 and NVIDIA NemoClaw support on NVIDIA Jetson.
JetPack 7.2 brings a...
01/06/2026
Financial institutions have spent years building AI: fraud models, credit models...