March Madness 2022: Without Player Mics, Audio Team Turns to Traditional Basketball Effects Capture NCAA prohibits wiring athletes and coaches, using contact mics on the court By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Thursday, March 17, 2022 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The pro leagues have embraced miked-up players for broadcast, but collegiate leagues have largely taken a pass on the technique, including for the NCAA's March Madness month of matches. Even though student-athletes in all three NCAA divisions can get now paid for the use of their name, image, and likeness, they still can't get wired for sound on television.
That could put college games at a sonic disadvantage, and that's what Dave Grundtvig, who is handling sound design and A1 duties for Turner Sports for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, and his crew have worked to remedy. Unable to position microphones either on players or near the coaches or the scorers tables, they have to rely on other techniques to pick up the excitement of this iconic series of games.
Grundtvig says that, without the microphones near the tables and without being able to wire the various courts with contact mics - a technique he pioneered for the NBA's COVID bubble in Orlando in 2020 - he's relying mostly on conventional basketball effects-capture approaches. Multiple lavalier mics are located on the backboards and stanchions, and shotguns are aimed to pick up the sneaker squeaks around three-pointers.
The audio effort for March Madness is focused on ambience, particularly the school bands.
But much of the soundscape will comprise the arena ambience, especially the college bands and what everyone hopes will be full grandstands.
The NCAA is very protective of the players and coaches, he notes. That being said, there are restrictions as to where we can put mics on the floor. So my focus is capturing the experience and energy and excitement in the venue: the bands, cheerleaders, and, of course, the fans. It's mostly just the basic basketball setup at that point. There really are no work-arounds for that.
Bring on the Bands For the bands behind the baskets, Grundtvig, working with RF specialist Victor Victoria and court-effects mixer Dave Bjornson, looks to the upper shelves of his microphone closet. He's deploying a Shure KSM32 large-diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone flanked by a pair of Neumann small-diaphragm condenser microphones at each end of the court to pick the music up out of the crowd sound as discretely as possible. These mics have their own place on his router, enabling them to be recalled, in stereo in the left and right L-C-R channels of the 5.1-surround broadcasts, for replays going into breaks.
It's like college football, Grundtvig explains. The school bands define college basketball, so you want to keep them out there as part of the signature sound.
The crowd fills the surround channels, and he deploys a few additional microphones for that, their locations determined in conjunction with the field producer and the league. But, he says, with most of the games played in NBA arenas, the necessary volume is built into the venue.
Grundtvig notes that 85% of second-round games will be in NBA arenas: They're big, and they're gonna be loud.
The flip side of that, though, is the battle with the PA volume, a situation he says has become endemic to almost all sports.
All these venues want to create an in-arena experience for the fans sitting in the seats, he says, adding, Sometimes their [sound perspective] and mine, which is millions of people watching at home, are not in the same ballpark, no pun intended. With all professional sports now, it seems like we're always fighting the PA.
What does help is that arenas are installing upgraded PA systems that can produce extremely precise coverage of specific areas, mostly the stands. In fact, some PA systems are designed to help keep PA sound out of the broadcast microphones.
For example, Grundtvig explains, Jeff McGinnis, who runs the PA in the American Airlines Center, will duck the PA in the cabinet hanging from the scoreboard. That's literally right at our announcer table, and it makes all the difference in the world. Other [venues] do similar things where they can manipulate a cabinet or two so they're not blasting right down on your announcer mic. Having the luxury of a well-tuned room and the flexibility of turning certain speakers on or off or adjusting their gain in certain arrays certainly helps.
March Madness sound has plenty of nuance, but mostly, says Grundtvig, it captures the excitement unique to college sports. It's just a fun time of year, and the beauty of it is, hopefully, we're getting back to normal in these arenas.
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
16/10/2025
Parks Associates has released new data showing that nearly half (45%) of U.S. internet homes watch free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services and 89% of U.S...
16/10/2025
TROY, Mich. -New data from J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Residential Internet Service Provider Study shows that residential wireless internet providers are growing...
15/10/2025
Across the world, early-career reporters are interrogating systems that shape daily life, from mortuaries and classrooms to the corridors of legal education and...
15/10/2025
St. Louis Blues Pay Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne in New Pregame Open VideoThe NHL franchise worked with production firms 2WEI and 4th Floor CreativeBy Mark J Burns,...
15/10/2025
Cobalt Digital, G3DVu, Proxima Vision, and Telos Alliance Renew Premier Sponsors...
15/10/2025
By Paige Bethmann
Before my grandmother passed away in 2019, I went to visit her in the hospital where she'd been for a few weeks. When I arrived, the nurs...
15/10/2025
Two years ago, Spotify set out to grow the entire publishing industry by making ...
15/10/2025
People turn to DJ for a listening experience that feels personal, dynamic, and j...
15/10/2025
Las personas recurren a DJ para vivir una experiencia de escucha personal, din m...
15/10/2025
Rock legend Bruce Springsteen and luminary actor Jeremy Allen White came togethe...
15/10/2025
At Spotify, we're all about supporting rising talent and helping them connec...
15/10/2025
New SBS Documentary Series THE CANCER KILLERS Premieres 4 November on SBS & SBS ...
15/10/2025
SBS celebrates the Festivals of Lights with bold, illuminating stories across th...
15/10/2025
One of humanity's most profound questions continues: Is there any place in our galaxy suitable for life beyond Earth? NASA intends to find out, with the hel...
15/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
15/10/2025
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage software for the AI era, today announced the advancement of its comprehensive AI ecosystem certification pro...
15/10/2025
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today unveiled key highlights of the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, scheduled for Feb. 15 19 at the Westin Rancho Mirage Go...
15/10/2025
At NAB Show New York 2025 (Stand 244), Interra Systems will showcase the future of media QC, monitoring, and captioning, highlighting its award-winning, AI- and...
15/10/2025
Grass Valley today announced that RMC BFM, part of the CMA-CGM Group and France's third-largest private media group, has chosen Grass Valley's productio...
15/10/2025
Appear, the global leader in live production technology, will demonstrate how its powerful hardware and software innovations are shaping the future of hybrid, s...
15/10/2025
Rakim to Join Berklee's Hip-Hop Hall of Fame at Signature Series Concert The rap icon becomes the latest inductee, following luminaries such as Roxanne Sh...
15/10/2025
Berklee Brings Live Music to the Head of the Charles Student artists will perform on multiple riverfront stages during the 60th anniversary of the world's...
15/10/2025
CobbTV, the government access television channel for Cobb County, Ga. recently acquired an automated playout system from Pebble, a global provider of automation...
15/10/2025
OSLO, Norway Appear, the global leader in live production technology, will demonstrate how its powerful hardware and software innovations are shaping the future...
15/10/2025
NEW YORK The NBA is making major changes to the NBA App and NBA TV as it takes control of them from TNT Sports, which has long managed the league's digital ...
15/10/2025
SAN MATEO, Calif. In what promises to be a major expansion of interactive features and personalized content on the DirecTV platform, the operator and Glance hav...
15/10/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Roku has launched changes to its user interface (UI) that the streaming platform says will better showcase original programming on the platform...
15/10/2025
LOS ANGELES Software-defined data storage and data services provider OpenDrives has elevated Alex Dunfey to chief technology officer, responsible for driving th...
15/10/2025
Abu Dhabi, UAE October 15, 2025: Space42 (ADX: SPACE42), the UAE-based AI-powe...
15/10/2025
Sheldon Nichols and Will Trickett to find and prepare more classic cars for budget conscious would-be owners from Wiser Films
UKTV have recommissioned the clas...
15/10/2025
Wednesday 15 October 2025
Nick Cave
JPEG (275 KB)
Explore the creative univer...
15/10/2025
Wednesday 15 October 2025
From breaking up with your partner to quitting your job - new polling shows some messages are just too scary to send
Over a fifth (...
15/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz unveils compact MXO 3 oscilloscopes with 4 and 8 channels: Advan...
15/10/2025
Back to All News
Revenge Series The Resurrected' Captivates Audiences Across Asia
Entertainment
15 October 2025
GlobalTaiwan
Link copied to clipboard
...
15/10/2025
Back to All News
Bringing the Best in VFX and Virtual Production Together as Eyeline
Jeffrey Shapiro
CEO, Eyeline
Business
15 October 2025
GlobalCanadaInd...
15/10/2025
Deployed by Astound Business Solutions, Harmonic's Primary Distribution Solution Ensures Outstanding Video Quality and Seamless Ad Insertion at the Edge
SA...
15/10/2025
Collaboration extends a trusted relationship as RMC BFM invests in scalable, fut...
15/10/2025
Series coming in 2026 stars Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Justine Mitchell and Jason O'Mara released today
RT today released first look images of new comedy-drama ...
14/10/2025
SVG Europe Summit 2025: All Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAYNetworking event that preceded IBC2025 shone a light on elite live sports innovation acro...
14/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Author Rich Podolsky on Writing Madden & Summerall: How They Revo...
14/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Michael Reiners, Coordinating Producer, FloRacingThe Illinois State grad steers a vast schedule of motorsports events at tracks across the countr...
14/10/2025
Content protection: Getting the right management for your DRM By Neal Romanek
Friday, October 10, 2025 - 10:11
Print This Story
Eluvio power the EPCR'...
14/10/2025
As League Takes Over Ops, NBA TV and NBA App Add 60 Games, Weekday Studio Show, ...
14/10/2025
Time and effort: World's largest student-led broadcast prepares to go On Air...
14/10/2025
(L-R) Guest, Kimberly Robinson Jones, Geeta Gandbhir, Pamela Dias, and Takema Ro...
14/10/2025
Lossless ist jetzt mit Spotify Premium verf gbar.
Verlustfreies Audio war eine...
14/10/2025
La qualit Lossless est disponible sur Spotify Premium.
Le format sans perte de...
14/10/2025
For the seventh edition of Spotify and FC Barcelona's artist jersey series, ...
March Madness 2022: Without Player Mics, Audio Team Turns to Traditional Basketball Effects Capture NCAA prohibits wiring athletes and coaches, using contact mics on the court By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
