On the Hardwood: Minnesota Timberwolves Feature On-Court Media Day With Drone Flyover at Target Center Even without fans onsite, game-day experience offers usual intro video, mascot antics By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Friday, January 22, 2021 - 9:17 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The doldrums of 2020 may be in the past, but 2021 is still presenting challenges to in-venue production teams. Now out of the Orlando bubble, NBA organizations are hosting games in their home arenas and navigating the continuing difficulties of the pandemic. Like SVG's At the Ballpark and On the Gridiron series, On the Hardwood will take a look the hardships, creative ideas, and teamwork of NBA franchises.
Basketball fans around the country were already excited about the 2020-21 regular season, but, 24 hours before tipoff, anticipation increased for Minnesota Timberwolves supporters when the franchise released a cinematic drone flyover of the interior and exterior of Target Center. As one of the video's highlights, the production team conducted a new version of its Media Day, which has become a microcosm of in-venue operations this year.
Media Day was really strange this year, says Alyse Danikowski, manager, game presentation, Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx. We usually have a whole round-robin with local and national media there, but, this year, it was just our in-house team.
MORE ON THE HARDWOOD INTERVIEWS:
After Assisting Fox Sports Sun, Miami Heat Retrofit Control Room for Games in AmericanAirlines Arena
Denver Nuggets Repurpose RSN Broadcast With Some In-Venue Flavor
Atlanta Hawks Honor Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. in First of Season-Long Unity Nights'
Player-Generated Content: Inside the Timberwolves' Preseason Media Day Prior to the start of the regular season, the production crew put in a lot of energy and effort putting Media Day together. In prior years, each player and a team representative would meet with each national and local media outlet for about 10 minutes. With the external organizations kept away from the venue by the COVID-19 pandemic, Danikowski's in-venue team and other departments collaborated on a safe yet efficient plan.
Inside the Minnesota Timberwolves control room
We had four total stations: two on the court for some intro videos with dramatic lighting, another with a green-screen station, and one with a gray screen for interviews, she says. Our RSN [Fox Sports North] had a station as well as two photo stations and a couple of Zoom stations that no one manned.
Other than the players, only 15 people at a time were allowed inside Target Center. Throughout the two-hour period, the Timberwolves' production staff coordinated with the players when they had free time after practice. Since personnel within the organization are all tested and abiding by safety protocols, the staffers were able to direct each player as to what station to go to next. Since this operation had some new workflows and elements, the crew wanted to make sure that they grabbed what they needed while they had premium access to the players.
At the end of Media Day, you're always asking, Did I get what I needed?' but it was even more so this year, says Danikowski. Even though it was definitely different, it went pretty smoothly.
Maintaining Energy: In-Venue Show Includes Intro Video, Pregame Light Show Since fans aren't experiencing the game in person this season, many production crews are forgoing the traditional videoboard show and game-day experience. This isn't the case in Minnesota: the team is opting to continue elaborate pregame festivities. Even so, the staff is adjusting the run of show to omit content that would be geared toward patrons onsite.
Mixers provide fake crowd noise at Target Center.
We're pumping in music since we still want to create that home-court advantage, Danikowski explains. We're also producing our intro sequence with a video and lights, but we're not necessarily running the different player features or the Military Member of the Game that we usually would.
The team is having some fun with the empty arena, including humor that features Crunch the Wolf. The goal is to fire up the players with some of the stimuli they're accustomed to.
We don't have the fans necessarily cheering along with our videoboard prompts, notes Danikowski, but we want to keep the energy high for the guys on the court. We're still getting used to the [fake] crowd noise in terms of keeping it realistic, but it has been interesting to find that balance when you're the one actually controlling it.
Connecting the Lynx: WNBA Bubble Gives Much-Needed Practice Minnesota Timberwolves' Alyse Danikowski in front of the videoboard during the season opener vs. the Detroit Pistons on Dec. 23
Preparations for the 2020-21 NBA season began months ago during the WNBA bubble in Bradenton, FL. Working with the four-time-champion Minnesota Lynx, Danikowski and company showcased their creativity with content shown in the confined space during the three-month Wubble.
They had a couple of screens for sponsorship and corporate partners, but we created an intro video, various noise prompts, and Lynx Win' graphics, she says. We also produced pregame shows for these games on our website, Twitter, and Facebook that presented player and coach interviews as well as player features.
This content allowed the team to take a different approach and become a little more comfortable with what has become the standard over the past 10 months.
Getting that sort of experience was a good way to build up to the Wolves' season, Danikowski adds. We were able to get into that headspace of bringing this entertainment to a fan-less arena and engaging our fans that are at home. A lot of other teams
North America Stories
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...
27/03/2026
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...
27/03/2026
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...
27/03/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...
27/03/2026
130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary
MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...
27/03/2026
Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production
Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...
27/03/2026
San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...
27/03/2026
Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...
27/03/2026
Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...
27/03/2026
Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
The Truthers, Starring Jose Coronado and St phanie Magnin, Pre...
26/03/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
26/03/2026
That gaming backlog won't clear itself - GeForce NOW is here to help. Stream the latest titles straight from the cloud across a variety of devices.
This we...
25/03/2026
Live match directors Sarah Cheadle (Sky Sports), Rob Levi (TNT Sports), and Andrew Swift (BBC Sport) sit down with the Premier League's Rachel Nightingale t...
25/03/2026
The senior from Upstate New York is manning the mic while also interning for the athletic department's sports-information team
In the live-sports-video ind...
On the Hardwood: Minnesota Timberwolves Feature On-Court Media Day With Drone Flyover at Target Center Even without fans onsite, game-day experience offers usual intro video, mascot antics By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
