WNBA Draft 2025: ESPN's Onsite Effort Fits Into NYC Grid for National Telecast From The Shed at Hudson Yards At new venue, broadcaster overcomes inclement weather during setup, traffic congestion By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor Monday, April 14, 2025 - 2:56 pm
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If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere. The Kander and Ebb song made famous by Frank Sinatra referred to New York City, but the phrase certainly describes ESPN's preparations for tonight's 2025 WNBA Draft in the Big Apple. Beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET, the event will take place in The Shed at Hudson Yards. To make the event possible, the broadcaster's operations team put in many long shifts, enduring freezing temperatures and heavy rain, broadcast-compound setup on 11th Avenue, and a speedy turnaround to dismantle the infrastructure.
Load-in began just after midnight on Friday morning with construction of a 50-ft.-long cable bridge across Hudson Boulevard between The Shed and The Vessel in Hudson Yards, says Jarrett Baker, senior manager, remote operations, ESPN. Game Creek Video's Varsity arrived early Saturday morning. ESU [equipment setup] began in earnest a few hours later, and rehearsals started Sunday afternoon.
In the Very Heart of It: GCV Varsity Parks on 11th Ave. To handle the immense production, more than 100 staffers across various divisions will be onsite. Some will be working from inside the venue, but others will be housed in the broadcast compound, which is centered on GCV Varsity A and B units. Before their arrival near The Vessel at Hudson Yards, the operations team got started on the grunt work both outside and inside The Shed. Working with the league and Related Companies, the building's property manager, ESPN needed to do its job while not disrupting the overall aesthetics of the venue or Hudson Yards. This meant taking more time to construct the cable bridge and find ways to blend into the surroundings during a busy week in Manhattan.
Game Creek Video Varsity is parked on 11th Avenue near Hudson Yards in New York City.
Heavy, cold rains overnight on Friday into Saturday made exterior cable runs challenging as well, says Baker. It's also interesting to park dual expandos on New York City streets, but Game Creek's skilled drivers made it look easy.
With space at a premium on the island's West Side, there were no parking lots or areas where the mobile units could be parked. In a congested city, the only choice was to obtain permits that would allow two lanes of 11th Avenue to be closed over the weekend as the crew set everything up. Because of the tight quarters along the Hudson River and the only option to park on the thoroughfare, there is a sizable gap between the production truck and the entrance to The Shed.
The closest place to park is about 600 ft. from where cable enters The Shed, says Baker. We have limited access to the cable route during the day, so we installed a 168-channel fiber trunk between the truck and venue.
The caveat in the permit is that, once the event ends tonight, the crew will have to work quickly to strike the equipment, pack up, and be ready to go before New Yorkers' their morning commute tomorrow.
Inside the venue, the crew had to get accustomed to a new setting. With the event habitually changing venues - last year's WNBA Draft was hosted at Brooklyn Academy of Music - ESPN needed to understand the potential logistics and production challenges of its current home.
We're used to working in venues with retractable roofs, notes Baker, but The Shed is unique in part because it's a 120-ft.-tall retractable event space. The McCourt, the room where the WNBA Draft is taking place, can be an open-air patio or enclosed, as it is for tonight's show. It's very flexible but doesn't regularly host nationally televised events, so we surveyed several times to ensure there would be no operational challenges once onsite.
With so much room for error and so many obstacles to sidestep, Baker and his crew are grateful for a high-octane production truck that will allow creative to shine on the production side and minimal hiccups to occur on the operations side.
Our production requires significant technical firepower, he adds. GCV Varsity fits the bill perfectly.
Remote's a Part of It: REMI Elements Play a Role in Bristol and Los Angeles Although the Draft will be covered by a full onsite team, ESPN's pre-Draft coverage from the Orange Carpet will be a REMI production. The show will be put together by control rooms in the broadcaster's facilities in Bristol, CT, and Los Angeles. Communications between teams on the two coasts can be done quickly to keep programming on track.
Studio programming will be live from The Shed, including WNBA Countdown and SportsCenter.
In addition, SportsCenter at 6 p.m. with host Elle Duncan will be in New York City but remotely produced from Bristol. WNBA Countdown with Duncan and analysts Chiney Ogwumike and Andraya Carter at 7 p.m. will be located at The Shed and remotely produced from Los Angeles.
The entire operation will have 14 outbound transmission paths, including five studio REMI paths, and 14 inbound transmission paths, including feeds from five club Draft Rooms and two feeds of team watch parties. Peak Uplink and The Switch are providing transmission services.
In a new twist this year, graphics operations are once again onsite after having been a REMCO element on previous WNBA Drafts.
Tech at the Top of the List: Additional RF Handheld, 24 Ft. Jib Highlight 18-Camera Show Inside The Shed, ESPN will deploy a total of 18 cameras to spotlight the biggest moment in the lives of some of the best women's basketball players in the world. To provide more coverage of the event, four RF handhelds
