Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

FloSports Debuts The Athlete's Lounge' Alternate Broadcast for Wanda Diamond League Track and Field

16/05/2025

FloSports Debuts The Athlete's Lounge' Alternate Broadcast for Wanda Diamond League Track and Field Olympic-caliber commentary is paired with remote workflows By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Friday, May 16, 2025 - 3:11 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

As the 2025 Wanda Diamond League season gets underway, FloSports is shaking up the way fans watch track and field. Today marks the debut of The Athlete's Lounge, a new alternate broadcast streaming live on both FloTrack and the FloTrack YouTube channel.

Designed to blend the relaxed tone of a ManningCast -style broadcast with deep Olympic-level insight, the companion stream represents a bold step into enhanced storytelling and viewer engagement.

With Olympic medalists Matthew Centro Centrowitz Jr., Trey Hardee, and English Gardner anchoring coverage alongside FloTrack hosts Demitra Carter and Nia Gibson, The Athlete's Lounge is engineered to be a candid, personality-driven way to experience the sport.

There are multiple events happening at once in a Diamond League meet, and the traditional broadcast has mostly focused on the track, says coordinating producer Don Cardona. With this format, we can give fans who care about specific disciplines - like pole vault, shot put, or triple jump - a place to engage in a more direct and entertaining way.

The Model Reimagined: Not Just Another Call of the Race FloSports' approach builds on familiar trends in sports broadcasting, following in the footsteps of successful alternative streams in the NFL, MLB, and NBA. But it's also tailored to the needs of track and field. With dozens of simultaneous events, the sport's multi-layered structure makes it ripe for this kind of innovation.

When we got the rights to the Diamond League, says Cardona, it was exciting for me personally because I used to produce it for NBC. Back then, we had only one feed. Now, with streaming, we're not locked into that. We have access to the world feed and three super feeds focused on field events. That opens up the storytelling potential tremendously.

Although FloTrack relies on Infront's host production for the primary world-feed coverage, The Athlete's Lounge is produced entirely in-house out of FloSports' Austin, TX, studios. The show deploys remote-production workflows and vMix technology to blend feeds from the world feed and field-event-specific streams with in-studio and remote talent commentary.

We anchor ourselves on the world feed, Cardona explains, but we strip the English commentary and replace it with our own. We might show a men's 200-meter final, then immediately cut to live pole-vault coverage if Katie Moon is about to jump, then come back to the studio for analysis. It gives us total control to shape the narrative.

Built for Flexibility: Control Room and Remote Engineering Behind the scenes, The Athlete's Lounge is a showcase of remote-production engineering and creative control. The show is directed and produced by Greg Sandercox, with Amanda Byars serving as producer for graphics and visual elements.

Incoming SRT signals from Infront's host feeds are decoded and routed into FloSports' REMI-capable control room in Austin, where they are layered with studio cameras, remote guest video, and a new custom graphics package.

The technical team includes Senior Director, Live Production, Lou Pantoja; VP, Production, Joe Baker; Streaming Engineer Byron Rape; Production Engineer Iggy Cantu; Senior Manager, Stream Engineering and Quality, LJ Helbig; Director Dennis LeMire; GM, Global Stream Technology, Ryan Fenton; and Manager, Crewing, Mike Anthony.

The hybrid model also allows Flo's editorial and social-media teams - some onsite at the Diamond League events - to dial in remotely via cell or vMix, contributing live reactions, athlete interviews, or behind-the-scenes insights.

Building the Show: Rehearsals, Demos, and an Agile Format Although this is not Flo's first studio show, it is the most technically ambitious, requiring tight integration of remote feeds, multiple control sources, and live commentary. To prepare, the team ran full rehearsals that not only stress-tested the workflows but also shaped the show's creative format.

There were a lot of takeaways from rehearsal, Cardona explains. We tested how to use our multi-box configurations - one box, two box, three box, different camera angles - and how to seamlessly incorporate remote commentators. One big lesson was that we don't need to structure the show around a rigid preview format. Instead, we focus on the stories and conversations that unfold naturally.

Those segments include on-screen demonstrations that break down the biomechanics of elite athletes, using graphics overlays and slow-motion replays. In one rehearsal example, Hardee dissected Armand Duplantis's pole-vault technique using stop-motion video and telestration, offering insight even longtime fans might miss.

The show is also debuting a custom insert-graphics package with integrated sponsor branding, aligned with the Fleet Feet x Tracksmith partnership that headlines FloTrack's 2025 Diamond League coverage.

More Than Just Talk: Authenticity and Athlete Connection At its core, The Athlete's Lounge is about shifting the viewer experience from passive observation to active connection.

We're not just adding commentary, says Cardona. We're bringing in guests - coaches, former athletes, maybe even someone who just won an event - to give live, unfiltered reactions. It's like sitting on the couch with a group of Olympians while the meet unfolds.

The format invites real-time analysis, side stories, and playful banter, blurring the line between sportscast and podcast. Because of its flexible format, it can respond to the moment - whether that'
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/05/16/flosports-debuts-the-athletes-l...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

06/10/2025

France Tlvisions Wins Prestigious 2025 EBU Technology & Innovation Award in Groundbreaking Collaboration with Dalet

France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

13/06/2025

HBO Max Plans July Launches in 12 New Markets

LONDON Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that HBO Max will launch direct-to-consumer in multiple new countries this July as the streamer becomes available in...

13/06/2025

Verbit Launches Speaker Identification for Live ASR Broadcast Captions

AI voice transcription and captioning platform Verbit has added a new feature to its Captivate ASR solution the ability to identify specific features in automat...

13/06/2025

FCC's Anna Gomez Meets with TV Networks, Studio Execs and Unions

WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission member Anna Gomez has wrapped up two weeks in California visiting broadcasters, television studio executives, enter...

13/06/2025

House Passes Rescission Package That Would Claw Back CPB Funding

WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines to approve a rescission package that would cancel $9.4 billion in previously approve...

13/06/2025

AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 202...

At InfoComm 2025, AJA Video Systems announced DRM2-Plus, an intuitive, high-capacity 3RU frame that can neatly house up to 24 AJA Mini-Converters. Tailored to s...

13/06/2025

National CineMedia Selects Operatives Suite of AI-Based C...

Cinema advertising leader to leverage AOS and suite of AI-enabled solutions to optimize forecasting, yield management, and streamlined ad sales and operations a...

13/06/2025

Manfrotto Unveils Unique New Tripod System for Mirrorless...

Manfrotto has launched the ONE Hybrid Tripod, a new support system designed specifically for professional content creators working with mirrorless cameras acros...

13/06/2025

Synamedia unveils security enhancements to its Media Edge...

Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that its Media Edge Gateway (MEG), an ATSC 3.0 software-based IRD, now supports Device Security requ...

13/06/2025

LiveU Strengthens Presence in DACH Region with Strategic...

LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video contribution, production and distribution solutions, is deepening its commitment to the German-speaking market with th...

13/06/2025

Chaos Adds AI Tools Faster Animation Renders and More Sty...

Chaos, the leader in architectural visualisation software, today announces Chaos Corona 13, giving archviz designers new ways to add eye-catching style and flai...

13/06/2025

PALI's Nena Music Video Shot with Blackmagic Design

PALI's Nena Music Video Shot with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 12, 2025 0 Comments Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Studio b...

13/06/2025

OddBeast Powers Up iRobot's Newest Roombas with Suite of CGI Launch Assets

OddBeast Powers Up iRobot's Newest Roombas with Suite of CGI Launch Assets Brie Clayton June 12, 2025 0 Comments The motion design and production ...

13/06/2025

On Chick Coreas Birthday, a Newly Uncovered Archival Release

On Chick Coreas Birthday, a Newly Uncovered Archival Release The Visitors, composed by Corea and performed by vibraphonist Gary Burton and pianist Kirill Gers...

13/06/2025

NVIDIA and Deutsche Telekom Partner to Advance Germany's Sovereign AI

Industrial AI isn't slowing down. Germany is ready. Following London Tech Week and GTC Paris at VivaTech, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang's Europea...

12/06/2025

Spotify's Heart & Soul Initiative Brings Mental Health Support to Artists and Creators Worldwide

In 2018, Spotify launched Heart & Soul, a mental health initiative developed to ...

12/06/2025

50 Years Strong: SBS and NITV Supercharge NAIDOC Week 2025 in a joint 50th celebration

50 Years Strong: SBS and NITV Supercharge NAIDOC Week 2025 in a joint 50th celeb...

12/06/2025

Belgium's Ministry of Defence Selects L3Harris T4 Robots for Explosive Ordnance Disposal Missions

Medium-sized L3Harris T4 robots provide advanced control and precision for inspe...

12/06/2025

The future of Sport: Nielsen's 2025 report reveals growth drivers

Over a third of global football fans find brand sponsorship appealing and 41% of all sports sponsorships are in that sport. The FIFA World Cup 2026TM will open...

12/06/2025

Study: U.S. Consumers Spend $164 Billion Per Year on Cable, Internet

SEATTLE U.S. households spend $164 billion annually on cable and internet services, which represents approximately 4% of the total $4.55 trillion spent on house...

12/06/2025

Synamedia Introduces A3SA Security Enhancements for Media Edge Gateway

ATLANTA and LONDON Synamedia today unveiled its Media Edge Gateway (MEG), an ATSC 3.0 software-based integrated receiver/decoder (IRD), with support for device ...

12/06/2025

Sony expand access to 360 Virtual Mixing Environment

Technology now widely available to creators Sony have announced that they are expanding access to their 360 Virtual Mixing Environment technology, which is ...

12/06/2025

Arturia unveil Mix Drums

Combines distortion, transient shaping & more The latest plug-in to join Arturia's line-up has been designed to provide a quick and intuitive way to cra...

12/06/2025

Study: U.S. Consumers Spend $164 Billion Per Year on Cable and Internet

SEATTLE U.S. households spend $164 billion annually on cable and internet services, which represents approximately 4% of the total $4.55 trillion spent on house...

12/06/2025

DPA introduce 4099 CORE+ instrument mic

Improved specs & redesigned mount DPA have just announced the upcoming launch of the 4099 CORE , a new and improved version of their renowned instrument mic...

12/06/2025

Roku and Dentsu Release New Data on Shoppable TV

SAN JOSE, Calif. Roku, Inc. and Dentsu have released a new study indicating that consumers are increasingly open to shopping directly from their TV screens, and...

12/06/2025

NDI Certifies Crestron 1 Beyond Camera Line

LISBON NDI has announced that Crestron has officially completed the NDI certification process for its 1 Beyond p-Series and i-Series cameras....

12/06/2025

Fox Advertising Upgrades Its Converged Media Platform

NEW YORK Fox Advertising announced a number of improvements and upgrades to OneFox, its media platform that unifies inventory and audiences across linear, strea...

12/06/2025

NAB Show New York Will Spotlight Creator Economy, Journalism and Sports

WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters is filling the agenda for the 2025 NAB Show New York, set for Oct. 21-23 at New York's Javits Center. Bi...

12/06/2025

SKnote launch Etna-C controller

New eight-fader control surface announced SKnote have just announced the launch of the Etna-C, a new DAW control surface and MIDI controller that's been...

12/06/2025

The 125th U.S. Open: Golf Tournament Stimulates Innovation in Sound

The 125th U.S. Open: Golf Tournament Stimulates Innovation in Sound Drones are a growing part of the action By Dan Daley, Audio Editor Thursday, June 12, 202...

12/06/2025

Virginia Tech's Evan Ellis on the Continued Growth of the Award-Winning HokieVision

Virginia Tech's Evan Ellis on the Continued Growth of the Award-Winning Hoki...

12/06/2025

Bouncing Around Wembley: DAZN on its Editorial Thrust for the National League Promotion Final at Wembley

Bouncing around Wembley: DAZN on its editorial thrust for the National League Pr...

12/06/2025

Intense Journey: Bringing the Production of the National League Promotion Final to Viewers with DAZN

Intense journey: Bringing the production of the National League Promotion final ...

12/06/2025

The 125th U.S. Open: The Tourney Returns to a Totally Revamped Course as USGA Focuses on World Feed

The 125th U.S. Open: The Tourney Returns to a Totally Revamped Course as USGA Fo...

12/06/2025

The 125th U.S. Open: NBC Sports Rolls Out Massive Production-Tech Arsenal To Cover Overhauled Oakmont Course

The 125th U.S. Open: NBC Sports Rolls Out Massive Production-Tech Arsenal To Cov...

12/06/2025

The 125th U.S. Open: NBC Sports' Tommy Roy Talks Oakmont Eccentricities, Drone Tracing, and Covering All 156 Players

The 125th U.S. Open: NBC Sports' Tommy Roy Talks Oakmont Eccentricities, Dro...

12/06/2025

Dan Biggar, Ronan OGara, Sam Warburton and Warren Gatland star in Sky Sports line-up for The British & Irish Lions Tour

Thursday 12 June 2025 Sky Sports has revealed its on-screen line-up for the Qat...

12/06/2025

Netflix Gets Animated at Annecy!

Back to All News Netflix Gets Animated at Annecy! Top row from left to right: Fixed (Film), In Your Dreams (Film), Long Story Short (Series) Bottom row from ...

12/06/2025

Leading the Media Revolution with Software-Defined Production

I've lost count of how many times I've heard software-defined production reduced to just run your broadcast software on commodity servers. The reality...

12/06/2025

Thales ranked No.1 most attractive employer among engineering students in France in 2025

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Thales has secured the top spot in the 2025 rank...

12/06/2025

Thales invests 55 million euros to anchor next-generation resilient navigation in France

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Thales strengthens its European leadership in re...

12/06/2025

NVIDIA TensorRT Boosts Stable Diffusion 3.5 Performance on NVIDIA GeForce RTX and RTX PRO GPUs

Generative AI has reshaped how people create, imagine and interact with digital ...

12/06/2025

Turn RTX ON With 40% Off Performance Day Passes

Level up GeForce NOW experiences this summer with 40% off Performance Day Passes. Enjoy 24 hours of premium cloud gaming with RTX ON, delivering low latency and...

11/06/2025

Sticking with SDI in an IP-Hyped World

Sticking with SDI in an IP-Hyped World Recently, it seems like every trade show, webinar and whitepaper spends a lot of time focusing on the benefits of IP wo...

11/06/2025

IP Conversion on the Radar: Why it Pays to Plan Ahead

IP Conversion on the Radar: Why it Pays to Plan Ahead Even if it's years down the road, the thought of IP migration can be daunting. If your current SDI s...

11/06/2025

How To Transition from SDI to IP (Without the Headaches)

How To Transition from SDI to IP (Without the Headaches) SDI infrastructure has long been the steadfast foundation of reliable content delivery. You've bu...