Baseball's biggest power hitters took the stage at Citi Field Monday night live on ESPN to crown this year's Sultan of Swat, King of Crash, Colossus of Clout the Home Run Derby champion. Oakland A's outfielder Yoenis C spedes ended up capturing that mantle, but in the process, ESPN viewers were treated to a bomb-astic telecast chalked full of unique camera angles, up-close-and-personal player audio and video, and an enhanced Home Run distance-tracking system.
Joa O'Connor, now in her sixth year as ESPN's senior operations producer at the Derby
Every year is a new challenge at the Derby, says Joa O'Connor, now in her sixth year as ESPN's senior operations producer for the Derby and ninth Derby overall. This is not a new show, but every year is different because the ballparks bring different aspects to it. Every year, it changes depending on the stadium and the different confines around it.
Three Times the Distance Tracking
In just its third year of existence, ESPN's distance tracking system has already become a staple of its Derby coverage. Developed by ESPN's Emerging Technology group in Orlando, FL, the system utilizes a 3D laser-scanned model of the ballpark to create instantaneous on-screen virtual-home-run icons that mark the landing distance and projected distance of each home run. The Emerging Technology group's Ball Track technology also creates a virtual spray chart of home runs that is displayed on-screen after each participant has finished their round (it can also track some live home runs).
Producer Scott Matthews arrived on the Derby scene in 2011 the same year that the distance-tracking system debuted.
At the end of the day, the Derby is a live videogame how many are they going to hit and how far are they going to hit them? says ESPN producer Scott Mathews. The distance tracking tells you just that it instantaneously tells viewers how far it went or and the projected distance.
This year, however, the distance-tracking platform was expanded from a sole camera (high-home-plate) to three cameras (adding mid-first and mid-third shots), giving ESPN the opportunity to utilize virtual home-run icons on a trio of angles rather than just one.
[The Emerging Technology Group] will come in more than a month ahead of time to get a 3D-laser-scan model of the stadium, says O'Connor. Then they calibrate all the cameras and test all of their equipment during a game. The 3D laser scan generates X, Y, and Z coordinates so that they can [determine] distance and projected distance.
Mathews adds: Even though this is only the third year, we, as production people, missed it when we had to cut to other shots and couldn't have [the virtual home run icons]. So [director] Jimmy Moore was very much on board with us adding [distance tracking] on more cameras. The technology has actually influenced the way he cuts the Home Run Derby that gives you an idea of the impact that this technology has had.
All the Best Seats in the House
Over the past 21 years, the Derby has evolved into one of ESPN's biggest and most complicated shows. The network was not about to buck that trend Monday night, deploying a total of 28 cameras throughout the ballpark not including four more on the Baseball Tonight set in center field stands and three more dedicated to ESPN Deportes' coverage (a handheld on the field, a handheld in its booth, and an additional hard camera).
One of 28 cameras on hand at Citi Field for the Derby.
When people see a home run derby on ESPN, they are conscious of the fact that it is truly being covered from every single angle, says Mathews. It gives people not just the best seat in the house but all the best seats in the house.
ESPN once again deployed several robos and wireless RF cameras on the field to capture angles that would otherwise be impossible during a traditional baseball game. In terms of robotics, ESPN rolled out three on the field one just in front of the batter on each side of the batters box and one behind the pitcher's mound as well as another attached to the video board in right center field.
One of several robo-cams provided to ESPN by Fletcher Sports.
Fletcher supplied all robotics, as well as an I-MOVIX ultra-slow-motion camera that was used in a hard-camera configuration for the Futures game on Sunday and then reconfigured into a low-first robo setup for the Derby on Monday. ESPN also utilized a super-slo-mo camera for the Derby.
RF cameras were also once again a major part of the Derby show, adding up-close shots of players cracking jokes and letting their guard down on the field. A Sony HDC-P1 SteadiCam covered the infield and players near the dugout, while two standard RF cams roved through the ballpark and outfield. Baseball Tonight will also add a SteadiCam for its pregame coverage of the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
Then there is the audio side of things, in which every Derby participant was outfitted with an RF and four manned parabola mics were placed in the outfield. In addition, ESPN deployed an army of shotgun and effects mics and mics on both foul poles.
Much More Than Just the Derby
Of course, ESPN's coverage of the All-Star festivities goes well beyond just the Derby itself.
NEP's SS-25 served as the home of ESPN's Home Rune Derby production.
In addition to producing the All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game (aired immediately after the Derby) and All-Star Futures Game (Sunday afternoon) telecasts, ESPN has rolled a significant presence for Baseball Tonight and ESPN Deportes.
Lyon Video's Longhorn Network trucks were on hand to serve as facilities for Baseball Tonight and ESPN Deportes.
Production for the Derby, Celebrity, and Futures events was housed in the A and B units of NEP SS-25 (the former Monday Night Football Truck), whil
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Baseball's biggest power hitters took the stage at Citi Field Monday night live on ESPN to crown this year's Sultan of Swat, King of Crash, Colossus of Clout the Home Run Derby champion. Oakland A's outfielder Yoenis C spedes ended up capturing that mantle, but in the process, ESPN viewers were treated to a bomb-astic telecast chalked full of unique camera angles, up-close-and-personal player audio and video, and an enhanced Home Run distance-tracking system.
