Turner Sports To Hit the Links With Cart Cam, Aerial Drone, Toptracer for The Match: Champions for Change

Turner Sports To Hit the Links With Cart Cam, Aerial Drone, Toptracer for The Match: Champions for Change The course's desert layout allows more coverage of participant interaction By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor

Monday, November 23, 2020 - 4:00 pm

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After consuming copious amounts of food on Thanksgiving, golf fans will get an extra serving of content during Capital One's The Match: Champions for Change on TNT at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 27. In what has become an annual tradition, this year's edition will include the highest-quality technology, including a unique viewing perspective through Cart Cam, live shots from an aerial drone, and Toptracer shot tracking.

We want to create as much access to the players as possible, says Craig Barry, EVP/chief content officer, Turner Sports. This is going to be a fun and competitive event.

Between Holes: Cart Cam Puts Fans in the Passenger Seat Unlike traditional golf broadcasts, The Match offers leeway for technological innovation and experimentation. For the third iteration, the broadcaster has developed the Cart Cam, which allows fans to see what's going on between the players - Charles Barkley, Phil Mickelson, Stephen Curry, and Peyton Manning - while they drive from hole to hole. As for NASCAR and other motorsports productions, two robotic cameras will be mounted on the front of both carts: one for Mickelson and Barkley, the other for Curry and Manning.

Turner Sports will produce The Match for the third time in three years.

Unlike a typical golf course with holes running parallel to each other, the physical nature of Stone Canyon Golf Club in Oro Valley, AZ, positions the holes length-wise. With this expansive layout, the players will be in the carts for extended periods.

The course [is located] in the middle of the desert, so they're going to be spending significant time in the carts as they move from hole to hole, says Barry. The course is also very linear, which means the holes aren't side by side. Ultimately, the carts will potentially play a bigger role.

Cart Cam will make a big splash on the linear broadcast, but Turner's digital offering through Bleacher Report will leverage this technology for an alternative viewing experience. Hosted by sports journalist Taylor Rooks and two-time Super Bowl Champion Eli Manning, the production will allow consumers on the B/R app to observe the players' every move on an exclusive feed of the POV cameras throughout the entire match.

Bleacher Report will be using Cart Cam for an alternative feed, Barry adds. [The app] will carry only a feed between these two carts to stream that point of view. We feel like there will be enough content that it will be a viable option for the fan.

Trash Talk: Player Mics, IFB Devices Enable Open Communication In addition to Cart Cam, another access for immersion will be the open microphones that the quartet will be wearing. Having tinkered with the idea since 2018 and learning lessons from previous productions marked by inclement weather, players will be wearing lightweight devices to maximize their play on the course.

We found a solution with a traditional earpiece that should give them more mobility and be less distracting, which [means they will be] less irritated with it, says Barry. We learned from the first match to the second match, and, hopefully - with better conditions, more-refined technology, and a better understanding on how each thing works - we'll be able to take it to the next level for this third version.

Deployed on Mickelson's cart for The Match: Champions for Charity in May, Cart Cam will give linear and digital viewers a glimpse into the players' vehicles.

Cart Cam and these open microphones will be working together to provide companionship for the viewer. Not only will they see what's happening in the cart but will also hear every word said. For an exhibition game in this relaxed setting, trash talk and ribbing will be at a fever pitch. Not only will there be conversations between the players, but the on-air team of play-by-play commentator Brian Anderson, analysts Trevor Immelman and Andre Iguodala, and on-course reporters Cheyenne Woods and Gary McCord will be able to speak to all four golfers through IFB communication.

We decided that the fans will be able to not only listen to conversations between the players but also listen to our announcers interact with them, Barry explains. During downtime between holes, the talent can spend that time asking them questions and discuss their play and the competition.

The onsite talent will interact with these players, but offsite contributors as well will be joining the live telecast via Cisco Webex.

There is going to be between six and 10 people that are going to participate in the telecast, says Chris Brown, VP, operations and technology, Turner Sports. We'll be working with Cisco to feed their Webex units into our truck.

Sprawling Scenes: Live Drone Coverage Adds Cinematic Shots of Match Play, Scenery With empty galleries, broadcasters are putting more drones in the sky for impressive shots of the setting, including The Masters tournament in Augusta, GA. Since fans will be prohibited from being in attendance at Stone Canyon Golf Club, an aerial drone will capture the full breadth of shots. The up-down layout of the course will give the drone its own area to work in alongside the players.

The thing about a drone is that it's a little loud, notes Barry. It needs to be able to operate at a distance but still do what it does. This setting is going to be very conducive to drone coverage.

Along with following the play on the course, the drone will use the beautiful scenery of the Sonoran Desert to set the scene for the at-home viewer. It'll be to the

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