2020 in Review, Part 1: How Live Sports Production Returned in the Age of Coronavirus By SVG Staff Tuesday, January 5, 2021 - 11:44 am
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When the pandemic caused the U.S. sports world to suddenly grind to a halt in mid-March, broadcasters and live-event producers were faced with one of the greatest challenges in the industry's history: How to bring back live sports broadcasts safely.
Since the return of live-sports productions, broadcasters have implemented extensive testing protocols across the board in order to keep crews safe and healthy.
In the ensuing months, sports broadcasters, technology vendors, and production-service providers worked together to develop unique new workflows - both on-site and remote - that would pave the way for live-sports broadcasts to resume. Despite a litany of unknowns and a 2020 sports calendar thrown into chaos, all four major U.S. sports leagues returned along with the bulk of the major American sports events - providing a much needed respite for content-hungry sports fans struggling during the pandemic.
Here is first of a SVG's three-part series The Comeback: How Live Sports Production Returned in the Age of Coronavirus , which provides an in-depth look at the industry's monumental efforts to bring back live sports production in the face of coronavirus. The Comeback was originally published in the 2021 SVG Sports Production Yearbook, which you can read in full HERE. And make sure to check out the hyperlink throughout this story for more in-depth articles on these groundbreaking productions.
Early Days of the Pandemic: Esports, NFL Draft, and PBR Overwatch League caster Soe Gschwind enjoys her lunch while announcing live OWL action from home earlier this year.
When the traditional sports world came to a grinding halt in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, the esports world soldiered on, hosting online competitions with players competing remotely. Major esports entities like Riot Games (League of Legends), Activision Blizzard (Overwatch League and Call of Duty League), EA (Madden, FIFA, and Apex Legends), the NBA 2K League, and many others created new cloud-based virtualized live-production workflows that allowed both players and production crew to be located safely at home.
Much of ESPN's NFL Draft crew also worked from home, while others at ESPN's Bristol, CT, campus operated under strict social- distancing guidelines.
Just over a month into the pandemic shutdown, the NFL Draft provided a much-needed respite for content-hungry sports fans. The NFL Draft is a live production that has never been short on obstacles, annually presenting ESPN and NFL Media production staff with brain-bending puzzles that they thrived on solving. This Draft, though, was something totally different. ESPN, NFL Media, and an army of vendors were forced to come up with whole new scheme for the nationwide production effort, which spanned from ESPN's Bristol, CT, campus to the NFL Network to the homes of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL GMs, coaches, and Draft prospects around the country.
Keyshawn Whitehorse during the second round of the Guthrie Las Vegas Invintational Unleash The Beast PBR. Photo by Andy Watson
PBR (Pro Bull Riders) became the first U.S. sports entity to return to action in late April with the PBR Las Vegas Invitational. PBR returned to action with the help of a number of safety protocols designed to ensure that everyone involved in the production was as safe as possible. In doing so, it helped to develop early best practices not only for TV production in the age of coronavirus, but also for the safeguards to ensure production crews, venue personnel, and competitors stay safe and healthy.
NASCAR, IndyCar Lead Return of Motorsports
Crew safety has always been a top concern at NASCAR given the nature of the sport and a busy pit road and garage area. The coronavirus pandemic added a totally different level of safety demands, and every decision was made to maximize that safety.
A cavalcade of motorsports returned to the track in May, led by NASCAR, which kicked things off with The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway. NASCAR and Fox Sports shifted into overdrive and worked with track officials and all of the racing teams to get NASCAR back in action. Crew safety has always been a top concern at NASCAR given the nature of the sport and a busy pit road and garage area. The pandemic adds a totally different level of safety demands, and every decision NASCAR and Fox made was to maximize that safety in light of the coronavirus.
Crew members on MotoAmerica productions were required to be socially-distanced in the truck and and wear masks at all times.
Motorsports continued to lead the way in the return of live U.S. sports with the 2020 MotoAmerica Championship rolling out in late May after a nearly two-month delay. MotoAmerica's production partner, LDM Worldwide, rolled out a production (which aired on FS1 and FS2) at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI, that emphasized the crew's safety while maintaining the broadcast quality that MotoAmerica fans have come to expect.
Next up was NBC Sports' presentation of Monster Energy AMA Supercross at Salt Lake City's Rice-Eccles Stadium. For Feld Entertainment, the network's production partner, putting on a great broadcast was an objective, but the well-being of all onsite crew members was of utmost importance.
Another major motorsports property returned to the track in early June when the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series launched at Texas Motor Speedway. With live sports content at a premium
Golf Tees Off, and Tennis Serves Up
The Match offered unprecedented access to players as all four -Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady - had open mics.
First up in the return of televised golf, the PGA Tour
