Canon Supports Creative Needs for NBC Sports, Photographers at Super Bowl LX

Onsite experts and shop inside the stadium are providing quick solutions

Before any live event production, there is a high probability that unpredictable issues will pop up from time to time, but on an event as large as the Super Bowl, those issues can become magnified if not fixed in time. For NBC Sports' operations in Santa Clara, CA, Canon's onsite team has catered to every need to respond to problems on the lenses front for studio and game coverage.

The Super Bowl has become so big that we need to have a larger team to be able to assist on the various functions that NBC Sports is doing, says Rich Eilers, national accounts sales director, Canon. We have to step up to the plate to make sure that they have the proper lenses.

Full Season of Support: Canon Works With NBC's Sunday Night Football Throughout the Year

Although this Sunday's game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks is the main focus, Canon has been entrenched with NBC Sports' operations team all season long on Sunday Night Football. Whether it's the cine servo lens or traditional lenses used on the broadcasters' standard hard cameras to capture the action on the field, the tech manufacturer has been in lock step with the broadcaster. Anchored by Senior Technical Specialist Paul McAniff, who has either been onsite at the stadium for select games or communicated virtually to NBC Sports, Canon has maintained constant communication to ensure a smooth operation for Sunday's massive show.

(L to R): Paul McAniff, Terry Song, Ken Kaminskey, Ron Brevot, Jarret Haug, and Rich Eilers in the broadcast compound. He's always checking in to make sure that we're addressing any needs that might come up, says Rich Eilers, national accounts sales director, Canon. We did some tests for SNF last year rolling into the playoffs, but this is where the rubber hits the road.

Deluge of Needs: NFL's Biggest Game Calls for an Abundance of Tech

As fans anticipate more camera angles on the game, and now expect style and cinema on studio programming, Super Bowls ask more and more out of the vendors that work alongside the national network. Not only do lead-in times start earlier and days onsite grow longer, the list of requests for certain equipment become larger as well. At a time when two significant sporting events are occurring at the same time on NBC - Super Bowl LX and the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina - bandwidth from both a person and tech perspective can become an issue.

It's the sheer volume with how many moving pieces that we have and the coordination between all the different teams and manufacturers, says Ken Kaminskey, director, technical solutions, Canon. We're always able and willing to come out with our A team to help where we can.

Now onsite at the stadium, Canon's biggest job in their support role is to troubleshoot any snags that come up with their technology. As NBC Sports handles a lot of the macro tech issues that may arise, Eilers and his onsite crew of Broadcast Technician Terry Song; Technical Support Supervisor Ron Brevot; andAccount Manager Jarret Haug are imbedded in the NBC compound to address any urgent lens needs.

Assisting With the Right Shot: Onsite Shot Helps Credentialed Photographers

The televised broadcast is a high priority on Canon's to-do list, but at the same time, the Canon Professional Services (CPS) team has constructed an onsite shop inside of Levi's Stadium to accommodate the large volume of photographers documenting the event.

Senior Manager, Key Agency & Pro Market Field Support Matt Campbell; Senior Technical Specialists Annie Wermiel and Dirk Fletcher; Pro Market Specialist Tony Kurdzuk; and Digital Imaging Technician Jeff Owens are on the scene equipped with gear, knowledge, and service capabilities related to their extensive camera and lens lineup.

Canon Professional Servies at the onsite shop inside of Levi's Stadium. (Standing, L to R: Jeff Owens, Matt Campbell, Ken Kaminskey, & Dirk Fletcher. Sitting, L to R: Annie Wermiel & Tony Kurdzuk) We're well prepared to support the great group of pro photographers that are on site, says Campbell. We came in ready with a lot of gear - 61 camera bodies, 52 pieces of long glass, and a variety of 108 lenses to service a myriad of imaging needs.

Between the gear and know-how with the CPS team and the Canon Broadcast team in the NBC compound, Canon believes they have the people and products ready to address any imaging situation that arises.

There's a lot of interfacing with a variety of gear, so if we can take a few problems off of [NBC Sports'] and the Professional Imaging clients' plate and streamline things a little bit, that's the goal of us being here, adds Eilers. It's really about working through issues together with our Imaging clients and figuring it out.

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