Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 2 - For Multi-Use Spaces, the Gear Makes the Difference

07/05/2025

Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 2 - For Multi-Use Spaces, the Gear Makes the Difference A look at the components that give three venues their edge By Dan Daley, Audio Editor

Wednesday, May 7, 2025 - 7:00 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Sports venues are benefiting from a growing array of very specific sound-system components. Here are some of the elements going into their systems.

Click here Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 1 - Chasing the Fan Experience.

New multi-use Frontwave Arena, home to the NBA's San Diego Clippers and the San Diego Sockers soccer team, boasts a high-end sound system installed by Sound Image.

Oceanside in San Diego County has opened its first multi-use venue: the new Frontwave Arena. Home to the San Diego Clippers (basketball) and the San Diego Sockers (soccer), the 7,500-capacity, 170,000-sq.-ft. space features a high-end sound system - installed by Sound Image, a Clair Global brand - that reaches every seat while minimizing sight-line interruption. The venue's first touring show was the first stop of 2024's Gold Over America Tour (GOAT), led by 11-time-Olympic-medalist gymnast Simone Biles.

The main PA system comprises JBL PD6322 three-way and PD6212 two-way PD Series loudspeakers, chosen for its high output and pattern control. The sub package comprises 24 JBL ASB6115's arranged in a dual-facing laterally steered array. The venue's subwoofer installation is configured with under-balcony fills of JBL AC18/26 and JBL CBT70J-1 side fills, amplified by Crown DCI Series. Sound is mixed through a DiGiCo S21, alongside a DiGiCo DQ Dante rack. Wireless microphones are Shure ULX-D, with RF Venue D-FIN antennas.

Frontwave Arena also deploys noise reduction, reverberation, echo, and distortion absorption via acoustic-insulation applications within the arena bowl.

This part of San Diego County has never had a venue like this, says Sound Image Project Manager Hans Haas, who oversaw design and implementation of the project. It has already become a great activity hub for the community. No two integrations are ever alike, but with a venue so local to our San Diego office, there's an added level of hometown' satisfaction here.

Home of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning, Amalie Arena has a new Meyer Sound Panther sound system centered on 96 Panther loudspeakers.

Amalie Arena, home of three-time Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, has hosted NHL and NCAA games, the 2012 Republican National Convention, and concerts by Madonna, Elton John, Drake, and Bad Bunny. In 2023, the 670,000-sq.-ft. venue added a Meyer Sound Panther system, provided and installed by Solotech.

The new system is centered on 96 Panther loudspeakers in two horn variants, supported by 14 Leopard compact linear line-array loudspeakers, 20 2100 LFC low-frequency control elements, and 19 ULTRA X40 compact loudspeakers. Systems are managed by Galileo Galaxy 816 and 408 network platforms and are configured in a hybrid MILAN/Dante network. The arena also incorporates Meyer Sound's Spacemap Go spatial sound design and mixing tool and is experimenting with immersive audio.

We have the ability to immerse people in sound and do it differently, explains Andrew McIntyre, SVP, technology and innovation, Vinik Sports Group (VSG), which operates the venue. It doesn't have to be just loud; it can actually be more robust. We used to have a 15-year-old Pinto, and now we have a Cadillac. Most important, fans now enjoy a premium sound experience in every seat.

The new sound system has an economic component as well, allowing the venue to elevate the value proposition that your Lightning game ticket has, says John Franzone, SVP, game presentation, VSG, adding, and, by extension, all the other events that we have here in Amalie Arena that make use of this sound system. Suddenly, it becomes a very potent, nice little weapon to have when you're in the event entertainment industry.

Home to the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies and University of Memphis men's basketball, the multi-use FedExForum features an L-Acoustics Kara IIi sound system in keeping with the city's musical heritage.

The 800,000-sq.-ft. interior of the FedExForum celebrates Memphis's musical heritage, with artwork featuring locals like Justin Timberlake, B.B. King, and Elvis Presley. Even the venue's dining spaces, the Opus Restaurant and the Blue Note Lounge, reflect the theme. Not surprisingly, the venue - home to the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies and the NCAA Division I men's basketball of the University of Memphis - tries to keep its sonic signature at a certain level, too.

The 19,000-capacity multipurpose arena installed an L-Acoustics Kara IIi system in time for the current NBA season, designed by consultancy WJHW and implemented by integrator Solotech. It has also been used by visiting music artists, Billy Strings, Jhen Aiko, Justin Timberlake, and Maxwell.

The original system from 2004 couldn't meet current requirements for music playback expected by today's fans, explains WJHW Principal Mark Graham, who led the system design. The arena's new rigging infrastructure covering two-thirds of the venue floor required an audio design that could deliver powerful performance within a compact footprint.

The new system features eight arrays of 15 Kara IIi each, powered by LA7.16i amplified controllers, with two KS28 subs per hang powered by LA12X. In addition, two dozen coaxial X12 enclosures are used as delays for the upper-deck seating on the north and south ends, with eight larger X15's installed directly under the scoreboard as court fills.

Whether watching the Grizzlies or Tigers or attending one of our many concerts or shows, guests of FedExForum are experiencing connections to our events like never before, says Seth Tackett, senior director
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/05/07/tech-focus-venue-sound-part-2-f...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

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...

17/06/2025

DAZN Brings Global Ambition to U.S. Soil With Production of 2025 FIFA Club World Cup

DAZN Brings Global Ambition to U.S. Soil With Production of 2025 FIFA Club World...

16/06/2025

Grass Valley 4K Cameras Head to Greece for View Master Events' New Production Truck

Grass Valley 4K Cameras Head to Greece for View Master Events' New Productio...

16/06/2025

Behind The Broadcast Booth, Ep. 3: Golf. My Future. My Game. Founder and CEO Craig Kirby Talks Advocacy in Sports and More

Behind The Broadcast Booth, Ep. 3: Golf. My Future. My Game. Founder and CEO Cra...

16/06/2025

The REMI Revolution Is Here: How Remote Production Technology in Esports Pioneers a New Age of Broadcast

The REMI Revolution Is Here: How Remote Production Technology in Esports Pioneer...

16/06/2025

From Super Bowl to Indy 500, New Orleans Artist Frenchy' Captures Energy of Sports Production on Canvas

From Super Bowl to Indy 500, New Orleans Artist Frenchy' Captures Energy of...

16/06/2025

NFL Films Enhances Post Studio With Dolby Atmos Audio

NFL Films Enhances Post Studio With Dolby Atmos Audio Forty-three channels of audio enable the facility to migrate to immersive By Dan Daley, Audio Editor Mo...

16/06/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Storj's David Colantuoni on Expanding Cloud-Based Storage to Live Sports Production

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Storj's David Colantuoni on Expanding Cloud-Based...

16/06/2025

Grass Valley 4K Cameras Head to Greece for View Master Events' New OB Truck

Grass Valley 4K Cameras Head to Greece for View Master Events' New OB Truck By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Monday, June 16, 2025 - 2:33 pm Pri...

13/06/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Backblaze's Gleb Budman Talks Products, Partnerships, and the Growth in Cloud Storage

SVG Sit-Down: Backblaze's Gleb Budman Talks Products, Partnerships, and the ...

13/06/2025

SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Walker Jacobs Calls Streaming the FIFA Club World Cup The Most Ambitious Thing We've Ever Done in the U.S.'

SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Walker Jacobs Calls Streaming the FIFA Club World Cup ...

13/06/2025

New Sponsor Spotlight: Vecima Networks' Paul Strickland on How Improving QoE for Sports Fans Can Deliver Real ROI

New Sponsor Spotlight: Vecima Networks' Paul Strickland on How Improving QoE...

13/06/2025

Pitch Perspective: Where's Next for Specialty Cameras in Soccer?

Pitch Perspective: Where's Next for Specialty Cameras in Soccer? Leaders from Sky Austria and ACS discuss the possibilities of camera placement pitchside B...