NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships: ESPN Deploys On-Screen Data Markers, Extra Robos to Deliver Deeper Coverage Event will make first-ever live appearance on broadcast TV when Championship Final airs on ABC on Saturday afternoon By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, April 16, 2021 - 11:58 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
It's a big weekend in the gymnastics world as the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships makes its first ever live appearance on broadcast television.
An ESPN crew of more than 50 people is on-site at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX to deliver live coverage of the event which begins Friday with Semifinal I at 1 p.m. ET and Semifinal II at 6 p.m. ET (ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN App). However, it's the Championship Final which will be live on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC that has the teams visiting the North Texas region buzzing.
At the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships, a jib is one of the tools being used to deliver access to the viewers at a time where social-distancing guidelines make it tough to get up close to the athletes for the ESPN production crew. (Photo Courtesy Maria Soares, ESPN)
It's so exciting, says senior coordinating producer Maria Soares, a 29-year veteran of ESPN who is overseeing her first NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship. And not only is the production team really excited about it, but every coach and gymnast, everyone that we talked to, it really is such a highlight for them. I think for them, it just represents the level of where the sport is, and really just how much the sport has grown. It's probably the second thing, if not the first thing, that everyone mentions as we walk around Fort Worth. So, yeah, it's a really big deal for everyone.
While COVID protocols are still very much in place, the ESPN operations team is overcoming various restrictions and access limitations with acquisition gear positioned to get the viewer closer to the action. That means more strategically placed robotic cameras and POVs, as well as a jib that will do its best to reposition itself throughout the competition.
There are approximately 17 cameras in the building with POVs locked off on each individual apparatus, as well as six cameras run by human operators, seven Marshall POVs, and the jib. Those unmanned units are mostly placed in backstage areas to capture athletes, surrounding events, and, ultimately, the trophy presentation on Saturday.
Director Dan McVan (left) and producer Cara Lagana rehearse the trophy presentation earlier this week. The Championship Final will air on ABC beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. (Photo Courtesy Maria Soares, ESPN)
By nature of the sport itself, Soares says, we like to tell the story by being up close to the gymnasts that are on the floor. Given a lot of the protocols that we're working with this year, we had to just find new ways of telling those stories. We just had to be a little bit creative in how we get as close to the story and the gymnasts.
The producer-director team of Cara Lagana and Dan McVan will anchor the front bench in the production truck. This is Lagana's first NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship in the producer's chair after spending the last two regular seasons overseeing the network's coverage of the sport. She was slated to produce last year's championship before it was canceled by the NCAA following the COVID-19 outbreak. Soares, meanwhile, gave McVan kudos for playing a key role in shaping of the network's coverage in face of the on-site restrictions.
[Dan] has so much to do with how we're going to visually depict the sport, Soares says. He really has had to reimagine it with where we're going to have the different cameras.
The production team will also been implementing some fresh graphical elements to help tell the story of the tremendous athleticism of the student athletes. Included are height and distance markers on the vault, protractors for body angle and a height grid on the bars, and a split-o-meter on the balance beam. These aren't new elements for ESPN's college gymnastics coverage as it was utilized in the 2019 SEC season, but it's the first time the network has been able to utilize them this year due to the nature in which events needed to be produced. Naturally, Soares is excited to have them back.
Added graphical elements use unique measurements to display the athleticism of the competitors. (Photo Courtesy of ESPN PR; example from 2019)
It's cool for us to get to bring them back, she says, We've got our own truck on site and we're back with our ESPN production folks on site. We're really able to and enhance the sport the way we love to do it.
Anyone who has worked on a gymnastics event will tell you how challenging it can be to tell a live linear story for the audience at home. With so many things happening simultaneously, building to a dramatic championship moment doesn't come as easy as working to the end of a timed game might. Additionally, there's a higher likelihood for casual viewers with the Championship Final on broadcast on Saturday. These are all factors that the front bench is prioritizing in their storytelling heading into the weekend.
When you have four apparatuses going at the same time, your brain functions differently. Your producer functionality is different. I think that's what's unique, says Soares, who has experience working Olympics and Pan-Am Games in her years working at ESPN International. Basically, [the challenge is] how you manage the flow and how you prioritize between all these different things going on.
Senior coordinating producer Maria Soares (left) in the primary of two mobile production units on site with assistant director Robin Segreti (center) and producer Cara Lagana (right).
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
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...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...
01/07/2026
Chyron Launches the All-New Chyron Academy: A Reimagined, Hands-On Learning Expe...
01/07/2026
Amplium Captures Kawasaki Brave Thunders Game with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersiv...
01/07/2026
Boris FX Optics Expands Plugin Support to Apple Photos, Capture One, and Affinit...
01/07/2026
UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July.
Matt will take on this senio...
01/07/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026
Fussy asks Bri...
01/07/2026
Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...
01/07/2026
Wuppertal July 1, 2026
Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...
01/07/2026
Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...
NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships: ESPN Deploys On-Screen Data Markers, Extra Robos to Deliver Deeper Coverage Event will make first-ever live appearance on broadcast TV when Championship Final airs on ABC on Saturday afternoon By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
