Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

NBC Sports Headlines Premier Lacrosse League's Third Season With Keeper Cam, Cinematic Handheld, Full Onsite Effort

04/06/2021

NBC Sports Headlines Premier Lacrosse League's Third Season With Keeper Cam, Cinematic Handheld, Full Onsite Effort Canon's EOS R5 will be the league's version of the popular Megalodon' By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor

Friday, June 4, 2021 - 2:33 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL), building on the momentum of its 2019 first season, powered through the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 with a two-week-long bubble tournament in Herriman, UT. For its third year, the league and its broadcasting partner, NBC Sports, are upping the ante with technological enhancements, such as new POV angles from inside and near the cage and a new mirrorless camera for cinematic takes from the field.

The Premier Lacrosse League continues to be on the leading edge of broadcast quality and innovation, says Matt Borzello, producer, NBC Sports. NBC Sports Group prides itself on being the absolute best partners they can be, and these production enhancements reinforce our company's commitment to the PLL.

Between the Pipes: Keeper Cam, Pole Cams Offer Field-Level Look In an effort to supply new and engaging angles on the sport, NBC Sports is installing a handful of POV cameras in hard-to-reach areas of the field. Most notable is the Keeper Cam, a micro-HD camera embedded in the frame of the goal to highlight close plays in the crease and sniped shots scored in the top corners. This deployment is made possible by the league's relationship with its official ball and goal partner, Wolf Athletics, which has worked on this product over the past year.

The camera will give the viewer an unobstructed, super-wide-angle view of all the exciting action around the goal like never before, says Borzello. Wolf Athletics has developed this custom camera technology alongside a private camera engineering partner, so we're looking forward to its release during the 2021 season.

In addition to this camera embedded in the pipe, other technology will capture the run of play from field level. Two Pole Cams, fully operated robos attached to a stanchion about 20 yards from the net, will provide a closer look on how scoring opportunities are formulated. From a production standpoint, this pair of cameras (one located behind each goal) is intended to offer the close-up vantage points seen on other mainstream sports broadcasts.

The objective, Borzello notes, is to provide angles similar to what you see in hockey with robotic cameras behind each goal, as well as the Above the Rim cameras seen in basketball that allow more-dynamic looks in both replay sequences and live gameplay.

Best of the Rest: Cinematic Cameras, In-Game Comms Round Out Broadcast Tech Reflecting a trend that has swept across sports-video production, NBC Sports will leverage its version of a mirrorless, shallow-depth-of-field camera on selected broadcasts. In this case, the Cannon EOS R5 will roam the sidelines and on the field during play stoppages for cinematic shots of the game.

Fans will get a chance to see player personalities and what goes into the game via in-game interviews and analyst-to-player conversations. Created with the help of Gubser & Schnakenberg (GSC) and debuted during the inaugural season, audio devices will be installed in player helmets for seamless communication with the broadcast team of play-by-play Brendan Burke, analyst Ryan Boyle, and sideline reporter Paul Burmeister.

We will continue to push player access as far as possible, says Borzello. In addition to players with in-game communication devices, multiple other players will be miked up to help bring the viewer closer to the action.

In-game interviews will be captured with a standard RF handheld camera along with the Canon EOS R5.

In the Compound: Ross Production Services Powers Workflows Onsite NBC Sports will continue in-game interviews with players, like this one done in 2020.

Unlike many productions over the past year, remote workflows will not play a role in the upcoming PLL schedule. COVID-19-related protocols are still in effect - wearing of masks, a required PCR test 72 hours prior to each game, a rapid test on arrival at the venue - but the games will be conducted with traditional pre-pandemic workflows. In the compound, Ross Production Services is leading the way with its RMP6 mobile production unit along with a trailer for support.

At Gillette Stadium, the truck will have a handful of feeds coming from all sorts of cameras inside the venue. For example, all five of this weekend's games will have a total of 11 cameras: the main game camera, a tight follow, one located at low left attack, a player iso at high left slash, either a high end zone or slash, the two Pole Cams, the two Keeper Cams, the Canon EOS R5, and an RF handheld - and Ross PIERO Sports graphic analysis for in-depth breakdowns of recent plays.

National Tour: Production Crew To Travel to 11 Sports Venues Having produced a two-week tournament in the Utah bubble, the PLL is expanding to 11 markets across the U.S. for its 3 -month season: Boston's Gillette Stadium (June 4-6); Kennesaw State University's Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Atlanta (June 11-13); Baltimore's Homewood Field (June 25-27); Long Island, NY's Shuart Stadium (July 2-4); Minneapolis's TCO Stadium (July 9-11); All-Star Weekend at San Jose, CA's PayPal Park (July 18); Colorado Springs, CO's Weidner Field (July 30-Aug. 1); University of Albany's Tom and Mary Casey Stadium (Aug. 13-15); Quarterfinals at Salt Lake City's Rio Tinto Stadium (Aug. 20-21); Semifinals at Philadelphia's Subaru Park (Sept. 5); and the Championship at Washington, DC's Audi Field (Sept. 19). Despite the constant travel, productions won't be affected.

Travel itself should have minimal effect on the game production, says Borzello.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/06/04/nbc-sports-headlines-premier-la...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Aurora's Matt Beal on Taking Up the Broadcast Reins Alongside the FIA

Progressive realism: Aurora on taking up the broadcast reins for World RX alongs...

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Getting the Production Together With NEP Finland, Cloudbass Graphics

Great speed: New host broadcaster Aurora on getting the World RX 2025 season pro...

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Host Broadcaster Aurora Looks Ahead to This Weekend's Second Race of the Season in Hljes

Seat of its pants: Aurora boxes clever and looks ahead for the FIA as new host b...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: EBU, BBC Sport, Sunset+Vine Talk Coverage Plans, Distribution and Maintaining Momentum

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: EBU, BBC Sport and Sunset Vine talk coverage plans, ...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Women's Super League Launches New Content Series to Support Teams, Players Over Summer of Football

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Women's Super League launches new content series...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Ignite Puts Fans, Players Front and Center With Title Sequence for ITV

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Ignite puts fans and players front and centre with t...

02/07/2025

Storytelling in the Live Game Broadcast: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt Breaks Down the Craft

Storytelling in the Live Game Broadcast: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt Breaks Down t...

02/07/2025

CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Production Plan

CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Productio...

01/07/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Expansion in the U.S.

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Exp...

01/07/2025

The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus Video Production

The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus...

01/07/2025

Cherry On the Cake: Inside the Technical Production of the Tour de France 2025 with EMG / Gravity Media

Cherry on the cake: Inside the technical production of the Tour de France 2025 w...

01/07/2025

NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins Fans

NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, ...

01/07/2025

TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge

TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge Production approach emphasizes creative freedom, bold storytelling, casual-fan-friendly tone B...

27/06/2025

How Smarter Video Compression is Creating a Sustainable Future

How smarter compression is creating a sustainable future By Michael Burns Monday, June 23, 2025 - 14:13 Print This Story Live sport is especially vulnerab...

27/06/2025

RTL Group To Acquire Sky Deutschland

RTL Group To Acquire Sky Deutschland By George Bevir, Editorial Director, SVG Europe Friday, June 27, 2025 - 8:00 am Print This Story | Subscribe Story ...

27/06/2025

Frictionless, At Scale: The Current State of Live Video Streaming Techology

Frictionless, At Scale: The Current State of Live Video Streaming Techology Leaders from Bitmovin, Comcast Technology Solutions, Harmonic, IMAX, and Phenix brea...

27/06/2025

Marquee Sports Network's Nick Steger on Meeting the Moment of the Contending Chicago Cubs

Marquee Sports Network's Nick Steger on Meeting the Moment of the Contending...

27/06/2025

NHL Draft 2025: The League Is Primed for First Decentralized Draft in Non-Pandemic Era

NHL Draft 2025: The League Is Primed for First Decentralized Draft in Non-Pandem...

26/06/2025

10th-Annual SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Presents Useful Roadmap for the Future of the RSN, Local Media Business

10th-Annual SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Presents Useful Roadmap for th...

26/06/2025

The Big Cloud Debate: Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid

The Big Cloud Debate: Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid Tech leaders from CineSys, Diversified, and Net Insight breaks down all flavors of cloud By Jason Dachman, ...

26/06/2025

Program Productions' Jess Kowatch on Training the Next and Current Generation of Sports TV Technicians

Program Productions' Jess Kowatch on Training the Next and Current Gener...

25/06/2025

SVG College Summit 2025: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG College Summit 2025: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY Tackling the latest in college sports video: NIL, live production, virtual productio...

25/06/2025

ESPN Is Set To Bring AR Graphics to Wimbledon, Revamps Bunker and Studio 18 VO Booths

ESPN Is Set To Bring AR Graphics to Wimbledon, Revamps Bunker and Studio 18 VO B...

24/06/2025

2025 NBA Draft: ABC/ESPN Prepares for Two-Day Draft at Barclays Center

2025 NBA Draft: ABC/ESPN Prepares for Two-Day Draft at Barclays Center Partners Game Creek Video, CP Communications, NEP Specialty Capture will be on hand By M...

24/06/2025

Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: Google Cloud's Jane Day on the Impact of AI on Sports

Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: Google Cloud's Jane Day on the Impact of AI on ...

24/06/2025

Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: AWS's Dana LaGattuta on Data-Driven Innovation in Sports

Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: AWS's Dana LaGattuta on Data-Driven Innovation ...

24/06/2025

British & Irish Lions Men's Tour: Dublin Opener Sees Sky Sports Take Remote Route

Lions live: Dublin opener sees Sky Sports take remote route By Fergal Ringrose ...

24/06/2025

British & Irish Lions Men's Tour: Pumas Maul Lions as S4C and TG4 Deliver First-Ever Joint Host in Dublin

Pumas maul Lions as S4C and TG4 deliver first-ever joint host in Dublin By Ferg...

24/06/2025

ABC/ESPN Prepares for 2025 NBA Draft, the First at Barclays Center

ABC/ESPN Prepares for 2025 NBA Draft, the First at Barclays Center Partners Game Creek Video, CP Communications, NEP Specialty Capture will be on hand By Mark ...

23/06/2025

Adventures in Live Cloud Production: Stories From the Trenches with MLB, NHL, NBC Sports, Warner Bros. Discovery, and AWS

Adventures in Live Cloud Production: Stories From the Trenches with MLB, NHL, NB...

23/06/2025

Finding the Edge: How Badger & Combes Produces Live-Streamed Coverage of County Cricket for LancsTV

Finding the edge: How Badger & Combes produces live-streamed coverage of county ...

23/06/2025

Masters of Madness: New Football Format Shakes Up the Rules of Sportainment

Masters of Madness: New football format shakes up the rules of sportainment By Adrian Pennington Monday, June 16, 2025 - 11:38 Print This Story The ball i...

23/06/2025

New State-of-the-Art Mountain Media Center Launches in Former Starz Encore Building Near Denver

New State-of-the-Art Mountain Media Center Launches in Former Starz Encore Build...

23/06/2025

ESPN Says Goodbye to Seaport Studios, Hello to New State-of-the-Art Production Facility at Disney's 7 Hudson Square

ESPN Says Goodbye to Seaport Studios, Hello to New State-of-the-Art Production F...

20/06/2025

A True Test? Cricket's Growth on the Global Stage and the Role Broadcast Can Play

A True Test? Cricket's Growth on the Global Stage and the Role Broadcast Can...

20/06/2025

Sky Sports Goes Large for the British & Irish Lions Tour with AR Graphics, UHD and a Pop Up Channel

Sky Sports goes large for the British & Irish Lions Tour with AR graphics, UHD a...

20/06/2025

ESPN's Men's College World Series Finals Coverage Combines Innovation, Legacy

ESPN's Men's College World Series Finals Coverage Combines Innovation, L...

19/06/2025

SVG Rewind: PGA Tour Introduces Drone AR Smart Tracing, Reflects on Winning George Wensel Technical Achievement Award

SVG Rewind: PGA Tour Introduces Drone AR Smart Tracing, Reflects on Winning Geor...

18/06/2025

Technology Focus: Fan Expectations Drive Advances in the In-Stadium Experience

Technology focus: Fan expectations drive advances in the in-stadium experience By Jo Ruddock Tuesday, June 3, 2025 - 08:36 Print This Story For years, att...

18/06/2025

Making Connections: How Stadiums Are Meeting the Ever-Growing Demand for Data and Connectivity

Making connections: How stadiums are meeting the ever-growing demand for data an...

18/06/2025

SVG Venues & Teams Summit Keynote: RWS Global Powers the Stadium Environment at 2024 Paris Olympics

SVG Venues & Teams Summit Keynote: RWS Global Powers the Stadium Environment at ...

18/06/2025

SVG Rewind: Behind the Scenes of Producing Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League Victory Parade

SVG Rewind: Behind the Scenes of Producing Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League...

17/06/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Mercury Intermedia's Tom Richardson, Mike Ligon on Powering DTC Streams for Teams Reclaiming Media Rights

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Mercury Intermedia's Tom Richardson, Mike Ligon o...

17/06/2025

Total Sports Performance from Relo Metrics, VideoAmp, Offers Next-Level Media, Brand Measurement

Total Sports Performance from Relo Metrics, VideoAmp, Offers Next-Level Media, B...

17/06/2025

From Stage to Stream: Producing Live Esports Events in 2025

From Stage to Stream: Producing Live Esports Events in 2025 Leaders from ESL FACEIT Group, Riot Games, and more break down the latest trends By Jason Dachman, ...

17/06/2025

Inside FIFA 2025 Club World Cup Operations With FIFA's Oscar Sanchez, HBS's Stefan Wistuba

Inside FIFA 2025 Club World Cup Operations With FIFA's Oscar Sanchez, HBS...

17/06/2025

Production Ambitions: Over Exposed on Making the National League Promotion Final for DAZN as Spectacular as Possible

Production ambitions: Over Exposed on making the National League Promotion Final...