
Monday%20Night%20Football%20Game class=facebook article-function> Monday%20Night%20Football%20Game&url=http://www.sportsvideo.org/2016/09/08/nfl-kickoff-2016-espn-preps-for-first-international-monday-night-football-game/ class=twitter article-function> Monday%20Night%20Football%20Game class=linkedin article-function> Monday%20Night%20Football%20Game&body=Read%20the%20article%20at:%0Ahttp://www.sportsvideo.org/2016/09/08/nfl-kickoff-2016-espn-preps-for-first-international-monday-night-football-game/ class=email article-function>
ESPN's Monday Night Football returns this Monday with many of the production enhancements that made it must-see TV last season - in particular, the highly successful Pylon Cam - as well as a few new tricks and firsts for the franchise.
Chief among the Monday Night Football firsts is a trip south of the border. Earlier this year, the NFL announced the league's return to Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, where the Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders will face off on Nov. 21. The NFL's previous game in Mexico City - coincidentally, the first NFL regular-season game to be played outside the U.S. - was played 11 years ago on Oct. 2, 2005, as part of ESPN's Sunday Night Football package.
Of course, ESPN's NFL production plans have grown exponentially over the past decade, resulting in a number of logistical considerations for this year's game. The network has opted to drive its NEP EN1 fleet to Mexico City and treat the game as it would any domestic game.
We have made the decision that we're going to send the Monday Night Football fleet to Mexico City, explains Steve Carter, senior operations manager, ESPN. It should be a normal Monday Night Football show in the sense of the size and scope.
ESPN is working closely with SOS Global to handle the bulk of the logistics, as well as an escort company to accompany the fleet to and from Estadio Azteca. In addition to practical considerations like who will be driving and where to stop for fuel, ESPN must document and declare every piece of equipment on the multitruck unit when crossing the border.
Once the crew arrives onsite, both the network and the league will benefit from the ongoing renovation of Estadio Azteca. In 2015, the venue replaced its outdated video-display system with two large-screen LED videoboards from Panasonic Mexico, as well as numerous LED panels and ribbon boards. The stadium has also built temporary locker rooms to host the two teams and has worked with ESPN and the NFL to lay down fiber to accommodate the needs of both groups.
We've been down there three times already - we were just down there a couple weeks ago - and they have made tremendous improvements to that stadium, says Carter, who also worked on the 2005 Mexico City game. There's a lot of fiber that the NFL has put in. We've all worked together [and put] in fiber for our needs as well. From a television perspective, it's going to become a pretty good stadium.
Pylon Cam, Sony HDC-4300 Return for Sophomore Season
After making their Monday Night Football debut last season, Pylon Cam returns to primetime in 2016. ESPN will continue to deploy eight custom-molded goal-line pylons, each outfitted with four 1080p-capable cameras manufactured by Broadcast Sports International, for a total of 32 goal-line angles.
The Pylon Cams helped in critical situations, reflects Monday Night Football producer Jay Rothman. There was one catch we had in Miami with [New York Giants WR] Odell Beckham Jr. that really determined that the call of a no-catch was actually a catch and a touchdown. So that helped us tremendously.
ESPN will again deploy six Sony HDC-4300 cameras, capturing in high-frame-rate 1080p, and two I-MOVIX Phantom Flex 4K cameras on the goal line. The network added a handful of Fujinon 107X lenses to its complement of 99X and 95X lenses for its hard cameras. Depending on the matchup, ESPN will have the option of adding an RF handheld, a second RF Steadicam, or a jib. In total, including the pylon cams and five or six studio cameras, ESPN will have about 50 cameras at its disposal for Monday Night Football week to week.
ESPN also upped the bandwidth for data between EN1 and its Bristol, CT, headquarters to better share clips, send backup transmission feeds, support comms, and more.
A Testing Ground for Virtual Graphics
This year, ESPN will equip its Skycam with Vizrt technology and data from Sportvision to generate virtual graphics. The graphics operator in the production truck who is responsible for lower-third graphics will control the Skycam virtual graphics as well. According to ESPN, improved tracking in the system will allow increased consistency in pinning the graphics, and the network hopes to push virtual graphics in new ways this season.
I just went through a session of all of the renderings we're going to have for that, and that's pretty exciting, says Rothman. But, other than that, we're standing pat in terms of cameras and recording devices.
The 47th season of Monday Night Football kicks off Monday Sept. 12 on ESPN with a doubleheader: Pittsburgh Steelers at Washington Redskins (7 p.m. ET) and Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers (10:15 p.m. ET/7:15 p.m. PT). ESPN's MNF crew features play-by-play commentator Sean McDonough (who takes over from Mike Tirico), analyst Jon Gruden, and reporter Lisa Salters.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...
01/07/2026
Chyron Launches the All-New Chyron Academy: A Reimagined, Hands-On Learning Expe...
01/07/2026
Amplium Captures Kawasaki Brave Thunders Game with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersiv...
01/07/2026
Boris FX Optics Expands Plugin Support to Apple Photos, Capture One, and Affinit...
30/06/2026
Could your journalism reach an international stage?
Entries are now open for the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2026, one of the most prestigi...
30/06/2026
As Brazil's only way for fans to see all 104 matches, YouTube channel proves the power of digital...
30/06/2026
Brings together saturation & lo-fi effects
Following on from the release of their Voxcraft vocal-processing plug-in, UJAM have announced the launch of Retro...
30/06/2026
New IR reverb engine, Juno-inspired chorus & more
The latest version of Rapid Flow's hardware-emulation synth plug-in expands on its predecessor with a ...
30/06/2026
Excels at heavy-handed VCA compression
For their latest release, Shy Audio have recreated the crunchy' sound of a rackmount compressor that found its w...
30/06/2026
Component scarcity drives cost increases
Shortly after Apple's CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that cost increases would soon be inevitable , the company hav...
30/06/2026
Statement regarding GetUp Save Our SBS' campaign
30 June, 2026
Media releases
The GetUp Save Our SBS' campaign is an independent initiative. SBS ...
30/06/2026
Hitachi and Bank Pekao S.A. have completed the installation of the first Hitachi...
30/06/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
MainStreaming, the award-winning and innovative Edge Video Delivery Network, today announced that it has been selected by ITV to support the delivery of ITVX, I...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
When Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! needed to upgrade their wireless communications system, they turned to Clear-Com FreeSpeak wireless for their iconic televi...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Other World Computing Launches New Atlas Core Line with 256GB CFExpress 4.0 Type...
30/06/2026
DaVinci Resolve Studio Used for Taketoshi Sado's Perfume Cold Sleep -25 year...
30/06/2026
Life sciences has entered an era of computational scale, and for more than a dec...
30/06/2026
Fernando Cruz and Jaz Wray Join as Regional Sales Managers; Bringing Extensive S...
30/06/2026
As organizations move from AI pilots to production AI factories, infrastructure decisions have shifted from peak chip specifications to cost per token: how many...
30/06/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
30/06/2026
Scripps Research scientists demonstrate a faster, cheaper route to making critical drugs using common table sugar New method illustrates how to build a tough ch...
29/06/2026
By Andy Rayner, CTO, Appear
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the largest football tou...
29/06/2026
A new multi-country study from ESL FACEIT Group, Hero Esports, and Niko Partners estimates that 400 million Gen Z consumers regularly engage with esports, under...
29/06/2026
ESPN will mark America's 250th anniversary with a series of content initiatives across its linear, digital, and streaming platforms, including a special edi...
29/06/2026
The Esports Foundation has named OBSBOT the Official Camera and Webcam Partner for the Esports World Cup 2026, bringing the company's AI-powered imaging tec...
29/06/2026
Insight Productions has launched Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit designed specifically for esports production, live entertainment, and digital-fi...
29/06/2026
Gravity Media once again provided broadcast, streaming, and content-distribution...
29/06/2026
The All England Lawn Tennis Club and IBM have introduced new and enhanced digita...
29/06/2026
Four-layer instrument aimed at dark electronic music
Excite Audio's latest software instrument has been designed with dark drum and bass, atmospheric te...
29/06/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
29/06/2026
Details environmental policies & results
The Focusrite Group have just announced that following a long audit process, they have published their 2026 sustain...
29/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...