MLB Opening Day 2021: MLB Network Boosts YouTube Game Productions, Adds Studio for New Bettor's Eye MLB.com Show More than 20 camera feeds will be produced for YouTube's Game of the Week Live By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Thursday, April 1, 2021 - 2:27 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Last year, the team at MLB Network found itself serving a multitude of roles after Major League Baseball opened its season during the pandemic: it not only produced its own studio programming, MLB Network Showcase games, and NHL Network's studio programming but also supplied dozens of RSNs with the foundation for MLB's enhanced-world-feed model used for broadcasts. This year, there's no rest for the weary, and MLB Network's Secaucus, NJ, facility is as bustling as ever.
The network will once again produce its 26-game MLB Network Showcase package remotely, using Game Creek Video Riverhawk mobile unit, which is parked outside the Secaucus broadcast center. In addition, MLB Network will use Riverhawk for 21 productions of YouTube's Game of the Week Live, MLB's largest exclusive streaming package to date.
We're really excited to be able to have our own show and control all the cameras and have everything in our arsenal this year since the YouTube games are exclusive, says Susan Stone, SVP, engineering and operations, MLB Network. With the YouTube games, we're also looking to appeal to a different kind of audience and add a different kind of feel.
MLBN Showcase, YouTube Game Productions Call Secaucus Home After producing 13 games for YouTube in 2019 and four September games during last season's shortened campaign, MLB Network will handle production for YouTube's entire exclusive 21-game package this year. For Showcase and YouTube games, an average of 12 cameras will be sent to Riverhawk, where the production crew will create the shows.
According to MLB Network Senior Director, Remote Technical Operations, Jason Hedgcock, last year's YouTube productions involved eight-10 feeds from the park, but this year's will have more than 20 feeds backhauled to Secaucus, including cameras, Statcast and PitchCast data, and multiview/all-nine feeds for the announcers to call games off monitors from Studio K.
Leading up to Opening Day, MLB Network relied on its Ballpark Cam system and remote-production capabilities to produce its annual 30 Clubs in 30 Days Spring Training coverage, which featured Greg Amsinger (left) and Dan Plesac.
Last year was a triage: we just wanted to make sure we could get everything on-air, says Hedgcock. It ended up being very clean, good programming. Now we've had a few months to digest what worked and what didn't and get feedback from our talented and creative production team here. And we've had time on the engineering and operations side to make some adjustments and improvements. I think, this year, we're going to push the digital and REMI models that we've created to see just how much we can innovate with them, and that's really exciting.
Having debuted the Speed Cam system last year, MLB Network will continue to explore new camera positions and technologies. With the majority of ballparks still limiting audience size, broadcasters will continue to have additional flexibility when it comes to camera positions.
We certainly hope to see [Speed Cam] again this season, says Hedgcock. We thought it was a great enhancement, and we want to take advantage - like we were able to last year - of having more flexibility [with fewer fans in the stands].
The great news, he continues, is that every ballpark is going to have at least some fans this year. We certainly are hoping that we'll have the opportunity to try Speed Cam and some other enhancements between YouTube and Showcase as the season goes on.
YouTube Game of the Week: Miked Players, Multiple Announce Teams, and More To differentiate its coverage from traditional MLB broadcasts, MLB Network will roll out several features for YouTube's Game of the Week Live: regularly miking players on the field, incorporating multiple announce teams from across the country to represent both teams playing, and creating original content to take the place of commercial breaks.
Game Creek Video Riverhawk is parked outside MLB Network's Secaucus broadcast center to house the MLBN Showcase and YouTube Game of the Week productions this year.
Last year, MLB Network worked closely with Quantum5X to integrate a wearable miniature microphone/transmitter system into its broadcasts. In a prime example, MLBN worked with the New York Mets to sew a pouch into star first baseman Pete Alonso's Under Armour shirt for a transmitter the size of a credit card and run the microphone wire behind his back.
[Alonso] couldn't even feel it, says Marc Caiafa, SVP, production, MLB Network, adding, We're seeing the technology really improve, and that has made a different in getting buy-in [from the players]. We've always tried to push the wired mics, but, since the technology has gotten better, we are pushing them even more because it really makes the broadcasts better. We've got some lead time now with the clubs, and we've approached them already. It ultimately comes down to the communication with the player and the team, but we've definitely made strides.
The team-specific announcers will include a mix of on-air talent from MLB Network's in-house roster, the teams' RSNs, and various legends/former players from each team.
Our goal is to have representation from both sides, says Caiafa, whether it's a legend or local broadcaster or one of our in-house analysts. It will definitely be a challenge from a logistical standpoint, but I'm fully confident that we'll get it done. We've had good lead time, an
Most recent headlines
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Back to All News
Global Anime Hits and New Releases Take Center Stage at Jump Festa 2026
Entertainment
22 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboar...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
Back to All News
Legoshi and Haru's Story Reaches Its Finale: BEASTARS Fin...
21/12/2025
John Shortt named Young Sportsperson of the Year Kerry are the Team of the Year
...
20/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking ProRes RAW recording from the...
20/12/2025
CJP Broadcast has completed the digitisation of the European Gymnastics tape archive, converting 328 tapes containing more than forty years of recorded material...
20/12/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced the launch of the Stream Lab MCP Server, to give AI agents and large language model...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Barack Obama Includes Laufey on His 2025 Favorite Music List The former presidents roundup of books, music, and movies includes a song from the Berklee alums ...
20/12/2025
Study reveals a key hormonal circuit in the kidneys Scripps Research scientists identify the protein that helps kidney cells regulate renin, providing foundatio...
19/12/2025
With Playout Release 2025.4, ToolsOnAir continues to push professional playout w...
19/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Diversified's Jared Timmins on AI for Broadcast Sports and Cre...
19/12/2025
2025 SVG Summit Audio Recap: Say What?The Audio Production and Distribution Workshop at the SVG Summit 20 took on issues including speech intelligibility, Next-...
19/12/2025
Gamified fun: Channel 5 on its NFL Big Game Night ambitions with Hungry Bear Med...
19/12/2025
College Football Playoff Preview: For ESPN, Round 1 is a Fantastic Yet Familia...
19/12/2025
AWS's Jason Dvorkin on Developing Partnerships With the NBA and PGA Tour, Em...
19/12/2025
Netflix Kicks Off Packed Sports Week with Paul-Joshua Fight Before Shifting to N...
19/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Nareev Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
19/12/2025
Mounted to the pylon of an AH-1Z Viper helicopter, a Red Wolf vehicle successful...
19/12/2025
L3Harris technology for the SDA Tranche 3 Tracking Layer program will provide in...
19/12/2025
Partnership brings Nielsen ONE measurement activation directly into XR's adv...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
19/12/2025
Berklee Announces Spring 2026 Signature Series This season's highlights include the Gospel Extravaganza, the 40th International Folk Festival, special gue...
MLB Opening Day 2021: MLB Network Boosts YouTube Game Productions, Adds Studio for New Bettor's Eye MLB.com Show More than 20 camera feeds will be produced for YouTube's Game of the Week Live By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
