Live From MLB All-Star 2023: ESPN's Dual-Network Home Run Derby Coverage Pushes Real-Time Graphics Tech Limits Primary coverage of the fast-paced event will be on ESPN; alternative MLB Statcast, on ESPN2 By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Monday, July 10, 2023 - 10:07 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
When the midsummer fireworks display that is the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby returns tonight (8 p.m. ET, ESPN, ESPN2), ESPN will lean on more than 20 cameras and a load of graphics developed in partnership with MLB Statcast to produce an increasingly fast-paced event.
The 2023 MLB Home Run Derby from Seattle's T-Mobile Park airs at 8 p.m. ET July 10 on ESPN, with the Statcast edition on ESPN2.
On a good day, it's controlled chaos. On a bad day, it's just chaos, says Phil Orlins, VP, production, ESPN, and a 30-year veteran of the Home Run Derby. The pace is insane, but the pace is definitely a huge part of the popularity of the event. This is always the most special event of the year for me. To see what this event has become is impactful and special.
Since the Derby shifted to a timed format in 2015 and further tweaks two years ago allowed pitches to be thrown before the previous batted ball had landed, the high-octane event has become frenetic - and a genuinely massive challenge for telling the story of this event.
The coverage again features a split-screen format and continues to build on the long-standing relationship with Major League Baseball and its Statcast division. Deploying real-time augmented-reality graphics, spray charts, and 3D renderings, both the primary Derby coverage on ESPN and the alternative Statcast broadcast on ESPN2 rely heavily on data visualization to keep fans' heads on straight as balls fly out of T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
This is going to be the most aggressive approach we've ever taken with experimentation, Orlins said in an ESPN press call last week.
Two robotic cameras (left) flank home plate and provide key angles with ESPN's Home Run Derby coverage featuring more real-time ball-flight tracing with augmented-reality graphics.
He notes that the broadcast will retain many of the analytics featured in last year's show. It will show exit velocity and launch angle in real time on one side of the screen but will change the approach on the other side: instead of trying to chase multiple balls with quick camera cuts, it will stick with a wider shot and use real-time hit trails, similar to those provided by Shot Tracer in golf.
We'll be watching the ball follow that way, Orlins says, which, I think, is a pretty aggressive step in looking at baseball coverage - or Home Run Derby coverage, especially.
The camera lineup features four virtual-camera feeds, four super-slo-mos, and six robotics, two of which flank home plate from behind. In addition, the Groovy Cam, the Fletcher-developed robotic camera system (pictured below), will be parked on the infield grass behind the pitcher, serving the same role as the traditional main game camera over the back of the pitcher while giving a much tighter, more intimate look.
Fletcher's Groovy Cam serves the role of the traditional main game camera during ESPN's Home Run Derby coverage.
ESPN's coverage will be produced fully from a fleet of NEP trucks, most notably the Monday Night Football behemoth: the four-truck system of EN1. Coverage on ESPN will be led by producer Scott Matthews and director Doug Holmes.
Meanwhile, on ESPN2, the Statcast alternative broadcast will push the envelope with live, real-time, in-game augmented-reality graphics and instant interjection of data from MLB Statcast. Orlins notes that this might be the most intensive effort and the most collaborative project that his team has ever worked on with the Statcast crew, which is overseen by MLB SVP, Broadcasting, Ryan Zander; VP, Technical Operations, Broadcasting, Mark Ellinson; and Senior Technical Manager Kyle Burke. Also involved has been Simon Chattington, head of baseball, Animation Research Ltd., which develops the core of the Statcast tracking technology. Derby coverage on ESPN2 will be led by producer Andy Jacobson and director Mike Griffin.
ESPN's MLB All-Star presence also features live coverage of Sunday's MLB Draft, as well as numerous Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter hits throughout the day on both Monday and Tuesday. The network's full onsite infrastructure has been spearheaded by ESPN Operations Specialist Cindy Pennington, Remote Operations Specialist Kevin Cleary, and Remote Operations Manager Paul Horrell.
Coverage of the 2023 MLB Home Run Derby begins at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, July 10 on ESPN, with the Statcast edition starting at the same time on ESPN2.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
Live From MLB All-Star 2023: ESPN's Dual-Network Home Run Derby Coverage Pushes Real-Time Graphics Tech Limits Primary coverage of the fast-paced event will be on ESPN; alternative MLB Statcast, on ESPN2 By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
