
ESPN Navigates Ops Madness for Coast-to-Coast Productions of NCAA Women's Basketball Tourney A trio of production models are deployed to cover 16 opening-round sites By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Friday, March 21, 2025 - 2:07 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Few events personify the diversity of ESPN's remote-production methods more than the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. Each March, ESPN's remote-production operations team is tasked with assembling a jigsaw puzzle of solutions to produce more than 60 games around the country in less than three weeks. It all begins with the First Round for which - unlike with the men's tournament - the sites are not predetermined. The games take place at the home courts of the top four seeds in each regional.
ESPN director Jimmy Platt (center) along with producer Kaitlin Urka (left) during an opening round game at the 2025 NCAA Women's Basketball tournament.
To cover the 16 First Round sites this year, ESPN has deployed a mix of three production models: for A sites, traditional mobile units onsite; for B sites, REMI productions from control rooms at its Bristol, CT, and Charlotte, NC, facilities; and, for C sites, productions handled out of on-campus control rooms at SEC, ACC, and Big 12 schools.
Pulling off this tournament is the ultimate form of teamwork and collaboration, says Catherine Chalfant, manager, remote production operations, ESPN. Our success would not be possible without our partnership with production and the hard work of our functional teams - crewing, mobile units, remote traffic, REMI, our non-traditional-production operations teams, and many others who make this tournament the high-profile event that it is.
All About Preparation: Planning Pays Off for the Ops Team Chalfant, Operations Specialist Brock Wetherbee, Senior Operations Coordinators Abby Hurlbert and David Quintanilla, and Operations Coordinator Renee Greenwood started scenario planning for the tournament in January and gradually built a comprehensive package in the ensuing weeks.
To cover the 16 First Round locations, ESPN has a full mobile unit onsite in four cities, six REMI productions (three out of Bristol control rooms, three out of its Charlotte facility), and six productions out of ACC, SEC, and Big 12 on-campus control rooms.
NEP EN1 is parked at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC, for this afternoon's game between South Carolina and Tennessee Tech.
Making matters even more complex is the fact that Chalfant's team also handles operations for the NIT and supports ESPN's international coverage of the NCAA men's tournament. Thankfully, there were no overlapping sites for the NIT and the women's tourney this year, unlike in multiple cities last March.
We started working with our partners early on to put people and resources on hold so that, when it all hits on Selection Sunday, it's just executing our plan and we're not just figuring it out on the fly, says Chalfant. We don't know where we're going until the very last minute, so preparation is the key. Thankfully, since we had all these pieces in place, Sunday night wasn't that stressful.
ESPN frames BTG Marshall cameras for tomorrow night's Women's Basketball First Round game at the University of Texas at Austin.
In terms of mobile units onsite (for both traditional and REMI productions), ESPN is deploying NEP EN1 (at South Carolina), M14 (UCLA), and NCP10 (USC); F&F GTX 16 (Notre Dame); Game Creek Video Varsity (UConn); LMG MU3 (TCU), MU4 (Ohio State), and MU22 (Texas); and Raycom's HD1 (Oklahoma).
Our mobile-unit group did a great job of working with our vendors to position trucks across the country based on where we expected to need a full truck vs. a REMI, says Chalfant. We also spent a lot of time in the preparation stage evaluating the AP poll and the committee rankings, which helps us project and guesstimate where these resources may go.
Although different levels of equipment are deployed across the 16 opening-round sites, the operations team worked closely with ESPN production leaders - Senior VP Meg Aronowitz, Coordinating Producer Matt Leach, and Senior Director, Production, Integration, and Editorial Graphic Production Kate Leonard - to ensure that the broadcasts maintain the same level of production quality across the board.
Our key goal with production was to keep image quality consistent, says Chalfant. There was no reason that one site should look significantly different from the others, because all these games are equal and of the same value. Even though we are doing 16 sites, we need to give them each the level of coverage they deserve and make them look consistent across the First and Second Rounds. And we carry that same goal on to the regionals but with a beefed-up [camera complement].
In addition to the standard complement of game, tight, slash, and handheld cameras, ESPN will have at least one super-slo-mo on each game and deploy several Fletcher ATR (above the rim) robos and Marshal BTG (below the goal) PTZs across the various sites. In addition, the broadcaster is deploying the Dream Chip Atom One mini PTZ camera (provided by Fletcher), which allows the crew to color-correct the shot and frame up the ref on official replay calls.
Looking Ahead: Big Plans for Regionals and Final Four Sweet 16 and Elite 8 productions will add two super-slo-mos, a mid-court handheld, and a Sony FX6 cine camera to provide a shallow-depth-of-field look. The A game will also feature a Sony HDC-4800 4K super-slo-mo to capture dramatic high-speed shots for director Jimmy Platt. Other key adds include RF boom mics to capture sounds from the huddle, Viz Libero telestration system (operated remotely from Bristol), robust file-transfer capabilities with CMSI, and virtual shot
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
15/09/2026
At IBC2026, Pixitmedia by DataCore will showcase its latest capabilities designe...
15/09/2026
Quantum Corp. today announced the release of Quantum Autonomous Data Management ...
15/09/2026
Former Wyndham Hotels & Resorts technology executive will focus on fan engagemen...
15/09/2026
Creator Sports Network (CSN) and FAN.live have announced a partnership giving CSN's network of more than 2,000 vetted creators access to live 3D NFL broadca...
15/09/2026
SVG and SVG Europewere all over the IBC 2026 show floor out in Amsterdam, bringi...
15/09/2026
Rise WIB has announced the shortlist for the Rise Awards 2026, returning to Troxy in London on Tuesday, November 17. The awards recognize outstanding women, adv...
15/09/2026
Major League Table Tennis (MLTT) has announced its media distribution lineup for the 2026-27 season, beginning September 11. Every match will stream live on the...
15/09/2026
Willow Sports has announced it will serve as the exclusive U.S. and Canadian hom...
15/09/2026
Gravity Media has announced it will provide outside broadcast production and technical services for the MXGP of Australia, the finale of the 2026 FIM World Moto...
15/09/2026
Co-founders Scott Coker and Peter Y. Levin have unveiled Ki MMA, a new global mixed martial arts promotion launching in the first quarter of 2027. The announcem...
15/09/2026
Sony Electronics has announced two new G Master super-telephoto prime lenses for...
15/09/2026
GlobeCast provides facility for AI-power automated production core...
15/09/2026
Gravity Media, a leading global provider of production and content, and media services and facilities, is empowering Tourism and Events Northern Territory (NT) ...
15/09/2026
New Thunderbolt audio interfaces aimed at pro studios
Audient's latest announcement sees the company introduce three new high-end audio interfaces desig...
15/09/2026
Completes core wireless system line-up
The latest addition to Sennheiser's Spectera range is now shipping, completing the core elements of the company...
15/09/2026
High-frequency dynamics plug-in upgraded
Schwabe Digital have just released a major free update for their acclaimed high-frequency dynamics processing plug-...
15/09/2026
DAW update launched alongside all-in-one subscription bundle
The latest version of Universal Audio's DAW software has just arrived, and has been release...
15/09/2026
Three popular hardware units go virtual
Rupert Neve Designs are entering the software market in style, with not one, but three of their sought-after hardwar...
15/09/2026
When longstanding OB specialist Cloudbass made the decision to expand its fleet to accommodate remote production facilities for a leading UK sports broadcaster&...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Six Berklee Alumni Win at 2026 Emmy Awards The recipients were recognized for their contributions to Widow's Bay, Beef, South Park, and Bad Bunny's Su...
15/09/2026
OWC Announces Acquisition of OpenDrives, Expanding Software-Defined Video and Ri...
15/09/2026
Podcast The Vertical Buzz Shot with Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro
Brie Clayton September 14, 2026
0 Comments
Production team builds premium p...
15/09/2026
Grass Valley Launches AVORA at IBC2026
Brie Clayton September 14, 2026
0 Comments
New standalone solution gives production teams everything they need ...
15/09/2026
Brandon Woody Joins Berklee Student Ensemble for Signature Series Concert The acclaimed trumpeter, composer, and bandleader will lead a Berklee student ensemb...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Applications open for Future Leaders Delegation to BitSummit 2027 15 September 2026
Applications are open for Screen Australia's annual Future Leaders Dele...
15/09/2026
Red Seat Ventures' Supercast Launches Live Streaming, Bringing Real-Time Vid...
15/09/2026
Arqiva recognised with Armed Forces Covenant Silver AwardPresented to organisations that demonstrate outstanding support for the Armed Forces community
--
Sh...
14/09/2026
Lil Baby's Dead Fresh kicks off ESPN's Week 1 Monday Night Football, ...
14/09/2026
With Super Bowl LXI waiting in Los Angeles, ESPN will use the regular season to ...
14/09/2026
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. ...
14/09/2026
Three new models introduced
Sony have just announced the launch of three new pairs of headphones that span their premium, mid-range and entry-level line-ups...
14/09/2026
New flagship Thunderbolt units aimed at pro studios
Audient's latest announcement sees the company introduce three new high-end audio interfaces designe...
14/09/2026
Cobalt Digital IBC Stand 8.F90 // Journalists: Click to visit Cobalt
Highlights...
14/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/09/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, has announced that Australia's largest media company, Nine Entertainment (Nine), has deployed Bit...
14/09/2026
Creativepool Annual 2026 Winners Announced
Brie Clayton September 13, 2026
0 Comments
The creative industry's Most' awards celebrates another...
14/09/2026
At IBC2026, Ren M rch explains how the N-Series combines DPA's renowned microphone technology with a high-performance wireless platform, offering a wide tu...