SVG Campus Shot Callers: Kurt Sutton, Director of Broadcast Operations, Clemson UniversityFrom ESPN to PawVision videoboard shows, the industry vet leads hundreds of live events per yearBy Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Thursday, December 18, 2025 - 9:05 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The pool of production and operations talent in sports media runs much deeper than the national networks. SVG Campus Shot Callers spotlights the behind-the-scenes leaders powering the massive wave of college sports productions available to fans today. Across athletic departments nationwide, these administrators manage teams, oversee technology investment, mentor students, and ensure that hundreds of live broadcasts make it to air each year. This series highlights their journeys, philosophies, and the vital role they play in shaping live sports.
The past decade has marked a golden era for Clemson University Athletics, defined by sustained excellence across multiple sports and a national spotlight that rarely dims. From College Football Playoff championships to NCAA titles in men's soccer and deep postseason runs across the department, Clemson's success has played out on some of the biggest stages in college sports-and just as consistently, on television screens nationwide.
Helping shape how those moments reach fans is Kurt Sutton, Director of Broadcast Operations at Clemson University, who has spent the past eight years overseeing countless live productions that originate from campus. During that span, Clemson's in-house team has grown into one of the most prolific operations in the country, producing 230 live events last year alone-totaling more than 520 hours of content-including 43 games airing across ESPN's linear networks. In addition to managing broadcasts across every ESPN platform, Sutton is responsible for PawVision videoboard productions for football, basketball, and gymnastics, while also helping guide the department's broader engineering and technology efforts.
In this edition of SVG Campus Shot Callers, Sutton reflects on his time so far at Clemson through a production lens, his belief that live television should be both excellent and enjoyable, the unexpected role of tools like 3D printing in modern workflows, and why attitude and curiosity matter just as much as technical skill in building a lasting career in sports production.
Sutton (second from right) at the front bench of Clemson Athletics' control room prior to a live production with (from left) Matt Glenn, Rick Bagby, and Cora Wichelns. (Photos: Kurt Sutton)
What are the key responsibilities of your current role?
In my role, I help to direct or produce nearly every broadcast that comes from Clemson, so I am involved in the look and feel of everything we produce out of Clemson. If you've watched a Clemson sporting event in the past 8 years, I was fortunate enough to have a hand in it to some degree. I also help oversee our engineering department, which involves not only our broadcasts but other athletic department technology needs.
What is one core philosophy you try to live by when managing your team/operation?
TV should be fun. It's not rocket science; it's not brain surgery. It should be done at a high level, but it should also be a good experience not only for the viewer but for the people making it. Producing live television is a fun job. It's a cool job. It should be something that we all look forward to get to do, instead of something we feel burdened to do. And when all the pieces are parts are clicking, there isn't a better feeling in the world.
What is one key technology investment that your department has made that you feel as greatly improved your productions, workflows, or how your team operates?
3D printer. We have been able to design and create parts that either solve unique problems or help to save the athletic department money. Being able to prototype a new accessory or even print a piece that we can use every day has been a really cool aspect that we hadn't considered in the past. Just one example is that we designed and printed a shotgun mic holder for our cameras that allow us to mount a mic without needing an eye piece attached to the camera. It's a little thing, but it serves a direct need we had for years. We have also been able to prototype parts in the 3D printer that can be tested before taking to the campus machine shop to have them created in a more durable metal format.
Sutton (right) on a Clemson Football game day with department colleague Connor Bostic.
How did you get started in sports production? What made you want to pursue this career?
I graduated from Ball State, originally wanting to be a film student. I found an on-campus job working as a Production Assistant for the university-owned PBS station, which also produced Ball State sports along with other live productions. I was fortunate enough to get to learn from the late Bill Bryant, and through his mentorship I fell in love with live television and sports production. Ever since then, I've loved live television and live production. He helped to show me just how cool of a job it was, while also demonstrating many of the skills needed to produce a high-quality broadcast in any environment. I owe a huge debt to him and everyone at Ball State who helped ignite my passion for live television production. And since then, I've been in television ever since.
What is your favorite event(s) you've ever worked?
One of the coolest parts of working in television is that you get to witness history first-hand. The best example is during the first full season of Clemson softball, they hosted NCAA regionals in their brand new stadium. I was in the producer seat every game of those regionals and got to be part of the very first Clemson softball team to play in, host
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Kurt Sutton, Director of Broadcast Operations, Clemson UniversityFrom ESPN to PawVision videoboard shows, the industry vet leads hundreds of live events per yearBy Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
