
Unrivaled Revealed, Part 1: At Mediapro Facility, TNT Sports Operations Team Devises Agile Production, Tech Plan for Startup League Dedicated space, high-quality gear create a sandbox for experimentation By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor
Friday, January 17, 2025 - 2:01 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Unrivaled, the long-awaited professional 3-on-3 women's basketball league, officially tips off its inaugural season this evening with a doubleheader on TNT. From Mediapro's customized facility in Miami, TNT Sports will broadcast the thrice-weekly, eight-week-long schedule with the production and tech firepower of its South Florida host and thorough planning by the young organization.
The new Unrivaled 3-on3 women's hoops league will be played in Mediapro's facility in Miami.
Our role is to support these games as a broadcast partner but have our studio-content and production teams collaborate with Unrivaled's collective vision, says Chris Brown, VP, technology and operations, TNT Sports. It has been a lot of fun because, anytime you get to do something that has never been done before, it's exciting to build it from the ground up.
CLICK HERE for Part 2 of our two-part series on Unrivaled, focused on TNT Sports' studio show productions.
Doing the Homework: Unrivaled Relies on Mediapro, TNT Sports To Realize Its Vision Many things make the brand-new league noteworthy and special. From a societal perspective, Unrivaled will provide equity in a way that international leagues cannot guarantee. For example, all players will receive a six-figure salary, operate in a communal setting alongside other top players of the sport, and have a significant say in how the competition is presented to viewers. From a broadcast perspective, Unrivaled's choice to roll with the production expertise and tech capabilities of Mediapro offers the possibility of an engaging televised product polished by the battle-hardened experience of TNT Sports. Although it's the league's first year, all business decisions are being made by seasoned executives, including EVP, Broadcast and Production, Matt Miller, and Tech Director Petro Mnych.
Unrivaled definitely did their homework, says Brown. Their consultants and the individuals that they work with have ties within the NBA, so they're bringing a lot of those ideas to the table.
These ideas, rooted in innovation and the commitment to producing the best product possible, are seeping into the technology and workflows that fans will see immediately in the first game. The 12-camera complement, for example, will include two above-the-rim POVs, a roaming RF handheld, and, most notably, a court-length RailCam and aerial drone. The drone is an Unrivaled-owned device and will fly, like other drones used inside, above the playing surface during stoppages in play. The RailCam will travel along the court at ankle height to showcase the action on the floor. Off the court, access will be a priority.
Providing unprecedented access will be key to this league, says Brown. We're going to do our best to leverage elements like live microphones [on a delay] throughout the broadcast. It's going to be a crawl, walk, run approach as we sort out what this product is going to be.
A new league wouldn't be complete without a reimagined on-air look, and TNT Sports' creative department has been hard at work translating the league's color pattern and logos into an eye-catching graphics package. There are elements that are going to be new and will incorporate the look that the league has created, he says. You're also going to see some traditional TNT Sports elements displayed in a way that's easily digestible for the fans.
Nimble Environment: Miami Facility Allows Crew To Adjust Tech Infrastructure TNT Sports' crawl, walk, run mentality is commonplace in producing games of a new league, but another factor particularly makes this a viable approach: the broadcast-centric venue. The nearly 130,000 sq. ft. facility offers players all the creature comforts, but, for the production and operations team, it's a playground for experimenting with both gear and concepts. Scrimmages and rehearsals during the week enabled the broadcaster not only to time out its studio programming but also to line up desirable shots, understand how this game translates in real time, and finalize what will make it to the first broadcast and what will not.
Unrivaled's opening night will tip off tonight with two games on TNT.
We have a plan of what we think we're going to do, Brown notes, and then there's going to be what actually happens once they tip off and the season begins. We have a very short amount of time to do this, with the season being eight weeks, but this tech-friendly sandbox is going to allow us to change things quickly. For instance, we can see something on Friday and have something else in its place by Monday.
With the added wrinkle of 3-on-3 basketball, the court will be much smaller than a conventional court. This will prevent injuries and provide a tighter space for the players to show off their speed and athleticism. The scale permits use of fewer game cameras but also causes unique issues for some pieces of technology.
With the court being so small and the game being so fast, Brown explains, the question is whether the RailCam is going to able to capture gameplay. Working with Unrivaled, we'll be able to make decisions that are going to create a better viewing experience.
Content Pipeline: Mediapro Facility Links to TNT Sports' Techwood in Atlanta Because the entire 45-game regular season - plus a three-day 1-on-1 tournament with a minimum payday of $250,000 in mid February - takes place in one location, the broadcast compound will be quite light. Mediapro
North America Stories
08/02/2025
The American Forces Network (AFN), the U.S. government's television and radio broadcast service for military personnel and their families stationed overseas...
08/02/2025
In his Joshua Tree studio, cinematographer Timur Civan recently lensed a new music video Resurrection for gothic country artist Blood Nebraska. Working in col...
08/02/2025
DoPchoice debuts Spill Killer designed to prevent light leakage and ensure a clean, professional look for set or location lighting.
The elegantly designed butt...
08/02/2025
ESPN and Major League Rugby (MLR) have announced a multiyear media rights agreement that will bring MLR games to ESPN platforms. Under the new deal, live covera...
08/02/2025
Grammy-Nominated Alum Shares Berklee Wisdom with His Student Sister I thought graduating with a double major would be the key to success, Carlos Perez de An...
08/02/2025
Live From Super Bowl LIX: FOX Sports Digital Leans on Vizrt's TriCaster Vizi...
08/02/2025
Live From Super Bowl LIX: ESPN Studio Ops Spreads Across Big Easy From Fulton St...
08/02/2025
Live From Super Bowl LIX: Verizon's Joe Russo on How 5G Can Get to the Next ...
08/02/2025
Live From Super Bowl LIX: Inside the 10,000 sq. ft. Tech Center with Fox Sports ...
07/02/2025
L3Harris Commercial Aviation sector has entered into a significant licensing par...
07/02/2025
NFL, Red One, Carry On, Elf, A Christmas Story, Home Alone and Virgin River Among Top Programming for the day
Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, MAX, Disney , Peac...
07/02/2025
NEW ORLEANS Each broadcast network responsible for the production personnel, technologies and distribution deployed to present the Super Bowl takes the opportun...
07/02/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that it will be using NextGen TV broadcasts to offer enhancements to its coverage of the Super Bowl. As part of the effort, Gra...
07/02/2025
This Sunday February 9 sees the annual return of the US biggest television event, the Super Bowl LIX. Jamie McCombs, Fox Sports Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio wil...
07/02/2025
Get all your Blender add-ons on BlenderKit
Brie Clayton February 7, 2025
0 Comments
BlenderKit offers an ever-growing asset library seamlessly integr...
07/02/2025
Douglas Delaney Joins Light Iron as Supervising Colorist
Brie Clayton February 7, 2025
0 Comments
Esteemed colorist complements Light Iron's world...
07/02/2025
Resolve Fusion: Snow Settling Tutorial
Simon Ubsdell February 7, 2025
0 Comments
How to create this snow settling effect in Fusion a simple but effe...
07/02/2025
Grammy Nominated Alum Shares Berklee Wisdom with His Student Sister I thought graduating with a double major would be the key to success, Carlos Perez de An...
07/02/2025
WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has called for new spectrum auctions for wireless mobile as well as revisiting rules regulating TV loudness....
07/02/2025
BRISTOL, UK Consumption of long-form YouTube content is rising rapidly in the U.S., accounting for 73% of all viewing time on the platform by the end of October...
07/02/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has announced a deal with baseball's Kansas City Royals in which its stations will simulcast 10 regular-season game telecasts with incumb...
07/02/2025
LONDON The IBC has extended the deadline for the 2025 Technical Papers Program to February 14. Entries can be submitted here....
07/02/2025
SAN FRANCISCO New data from Samba TV shows, as expected, that time spent streaming continues to grow at a rapid pace, growing year-over-year by 56% in the secon...
07/02/2025
NEW YORK BrightLine, a provider of interactive, and shoppable CTV ads, and the ad tech platform TripleLift have announced that they have planning to offer premi...
07/02/2025
MURRIETA, Calif. The American Forces Network (AFN), the U.S. government's television and radio broadcast service for military personnel and their families s...
07/02/2025
Sony Electronics Enhances Creators' Cloud with Addition of Direct Transfers ...
07/02/2025
World Chase Tag Uses Blackmagic Replay
Brie Clayton February 6, 2025
0 Comments
Replay solution enhances fast turnaround highlights for social media a...
07/02/2025
Getting the Right Creative Content in Front of the Right Audience
Andy Marken February 6, 2025
0 Comments
Just relax, darlin'. This is the Big Ea...
07/02/2025
Berklee in Puerto Rico Program to Celebrate 30th Anniversary A special concert event will be held on June 5 to commemorate the milestone.
By
Colette Greenstei...
07/02/2025
Live From Super Bowl LIX: Fox Sports' Rod Conti on How Fox Sports Will Turn ...
07/02/2025
Live From Super Bowl LIX: FOX Sports Stuffs Graphics Package With Stats From Spo...
07/02/2025
Live From Super Bowl LIX: FOX Plans Big Sound From Around the Big Easy Audio for pregame, studio shows will be produced from Bourbon Street and Caesars Superdom...
07/02/2025
Live From Super Bowl LIX: Philadelphia Eagles' Sarah Zangrilli on Grabbing t...
07/02/2025
Live From Super Bowl LIX: New Canon Broadcast 122X Optical Block Expands Long-Le...
07/02/2025
Live From Super Bowl LIX: FOX Deportes Stakes Claim in New Orleans for Weeklong,...
07/02/2025
Whisper to produce Madden Bowl for EA Sports live in New Orleans By George Bevir
Wednesday, February 5, 2025 - 11:49
Print This Story
Whisper's events...
07/02/2025
Live From Super Bowl LIX: FOX Sports' Brad Zager on the Bourbon Street Effor...
07/02/2025
Live From Super Bowl LIX: Game Creek Video Encore, PrimeOne Are Front and Center...
07/02/2025
Every year, venomous snakes kill over 100,000 people and leave 300,000 more with devastating injuries - amputations, paralysis and permanent disabilities. The v...
07/02/2025
Collaboration awards enable scientists to design new medicines, more precisely edit DNA and fight drug-resistant bacteria Scripps Research announces its 2024 re...
06/02/2025
L3Harris' next-generation geostationary imager for NOAA's GeoXO satellit...
06/02/2025
The robotic dual-arm payload enables operators to handle complex missions that r...
06/02/2025
WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has called for new spectrum auctions for wireless mobile as well as revisiting rules for TV loudness....
06/02/2025
LOS ANGELES Joe St. Jean, an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience in multiplatform content delivery, is joining A3SA, the ATSC 3.0 Security Au...
06/02/2025
Perifery a division of DataCore, has today announced it has agreed to a joint letter of intent to acquire substantially all the assets of Pixitmedia, a Kalray ...
06/02/2025
Berklee Student Sings the National Anthem at Boston Celtics Game Ryan Peter Murphy, a vocalist studying songwriting and performance at the college, performed ...
06/02/2025
(Editor's note: Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair and Hearst Television were contacted for comment for this article but declined.)...
06/02/2025
DPA Microphones is moving into the wireless market with the release of its new N-Series Digital Wireless Microphone System at ISE 2025 (Stand 7P600). A fully di...
06/02/2025
Unique IP video distribution technologies power over 1,000 hours of immersive coverage from new and legendary international locations for wider global audiences...