At Little League World Series, ESPN Blends Tradition With New-Age Workflows New and returning vendors make the production run smoothly By Kristian Hernandez, Assistant Editor
Friday, August 24, 2018 - 8:58 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
As the 2018 edition of the Little League World Series rolls into Championship weekend, the production and operations staff at ESPN look to add another feather in their cap after another year in Williamsport, PA. Although many of the production elements have remained the same from last year, Dennis Cleary, director, remote production operations, and Joe Rainey, senior remote operations specialist, have made some significant changes to the LLWS workflow.
The Newcomers
To accommodate media sources coming from all over the globe, Rainey and the ops team switched from Avid to Adobe Premiere as primary editing software. We have discovered that, on this event, we are mixing a lot of different media from a lot of different sources that come in a lot of different flavors, he explains. With all of this on the same timeline, the systems [from Adobe] just seemed to tolerate them better.
Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, PA, hosts the Little League World Series.
With countless hours of game footage, replays, and other generated content, archiving can become quite cumbersome. With the typical 142 EVS channels, ESPN tapped into a Synology NAS selector to improve accessibility, dependability, and memory space.
The Synology acts as a giant pool in between the EVS servers and the rest of the archival process, Rainey says. It gives the freedom to save more media for longer and have access to it throughout the event.
In years past, after the conclusion of International play, ESPN has always used the storing capabilities and extra resources from the production unit designated for Volunteer Stadium. This year, however, ESPN released the unit, relying solely on the power of two A units for the remaining games. With the Synology NAS, the crew can offload that content to that platform as a substitute.
Now in its 10th year serving ESPN at the LLWS, Creative Mobile Solutions (CMSI) has a played a key role in these workflows. The company is onsite providing two Adobe Premiere edit systems; five Adobe Premiere producer stations; one 80-TB Avid NEXIS for edit storage; one 96-TB 10-Gb NAS for nearline storage; the Cisco 10-Gb network for edit and EVS workflow; and EVS IPDirectors, XFile3, and XTAccess. In working with CMSI, ESPN has the ability to scale and meet demand through virtualization of EVS software on VMWare, as well as the capability for high-speed file transfer to and from ESPN's broadcast center in Bristol, CT.
With multiple games and two separate locations, communication is always a bit tricky at LLWS. This year, ESPN has transitioned from an RTS RVON intercom system to a UNITY system to provide more-seamless portability for the crew onsite.
On-field audio, here a conversation between Hawaii Manager Gerald Oda and first baseman Mana Lau Kong, is a staple of ESPN's LLWS coverage.
It offers more channels back to Bristol at a higher quality, notes Rainey. The [UNITY] mobile app allows the production staff to go across venues and roam freely around Williamsport with the program in their pocket.
For wireless communication this year, ESPN has brought in a Clear-Com FreeSpeak II system to handle all RF comms needs.
That system gives us eight channels interfaced to the trucks and lets the producers roam the entire venue or cross venues without having to change packs or equipment, says Rainey. It's given everyone a lot more seamless communication with a lot more freedom of movement.
The Mainstays
The three mobile units are once again provided by Dome Productions: Pacific at Lamade Stadium, Journey at Volunteer, and B100XPT as the B unit. Camera coverage remains the same, with a combined 38 covering both venues. Major highlights include three Sony HDC-4300's for super-slow-motion playback, three wired handhelds, one roving RF handheld, seven robos from Fletcher, five Marshall miniature POV cams, and a jib. When Volunteer closes up shop, Lamade gains an additional jib cam - right next to the Casey statue past the left-field wall.
A staple of the Little League World Series is the capturing of the sounds on the field from players, coaches, and umpires. With an extensive arsenal of audio equipment, Cleary and Rainey are personalizing the participants with 72 effects mics, 22 talent mics, 16 RF mics (exclusively for coaches and umpires), and nine VER Hydras. Bexel laid down 50,000 ft. of fiber to make it all possible.
Major Leaguers, Too
As if the tremendous talent of youngsters weren't enough, the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies also participated in the 2018 Little League Classic. Although the pregame coverage and the telecast were handled by the staff of Sunday Night Baseball, Cleary and his team used TVU Networks IP transmission packs to capture the journey both teams undertook to get to the complex, as well as the fan interactions with big leaguers like Noah Syndergaard and Rhys Hoskins.
Says Cleary, We did coverage of the [MLB] teams basically from the time that they landed at the airport with TVU packs until they arrived at the Little League stadiums on buses.
The Annual Return
ESPN has continued to expand and broaden its productions to bring this yearly spectacle to fans at home. Whether adjusting to the unpredictability and unknowns of late-August weather in Pennsylvania or conquering new technological challenges, the crew has remained committed to the essence of the tournament: the fun of baseball. As for Cleary and Rainey, the Little League World Series is one of the events that both men are always eager to return to.
This is one of the events that the group that's been working on this for many
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
At Little League World Series, ESPN Blends Tradition With New-Age Workflows New and returning vendors make the production run smoothly By Kristian Hernandez, Assistant Editor 
