Sports Graphics Forum: AR Enhances Virtually Every Aspect of a Production Panelists from ESPN, BBC Sport, The Famous Group, MLB Network/NHL Network, Univision Deportes discuss their respective efforts By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, March 3, 2020 - 12:36 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Coupled with player tracking and data, augmented reality (AR) is opening up new ways of storytelling for sports-TV production teams. It is also allowing studios to take advantage of advanced green-screen technology and virtual sets in a way that enhances nearly every aspect of a production, from pregame to postgame and beyond. The opportunities and challenges were part of the Augmenting Your Reality panel discussion at SVG's annual Sports Graphics Forum, held in New York City last week.
Charlie Collin, senior manager, motion graphics and production enhancements, ESPN Creative Services, said that ESPN has spent the past few years focusing on how to use virtual reality and AR in a way that is more sustainable and can have a presence beyond one big game. College GameDay, for example, relies on AR week in and week out, and the efforts require more than just the buy-in of the graphics and camera department. On-air talent also has to be on board.
The Augmenting Your Reality panel at 2020 Sports Graphics Forum: (from left) SVG's Kristian Hernandez, MLB Network/NHL Network's Patrick Armstrong, ESPN Creative Services' Charlie Collin, The Famous Group's Andrew Isaacson, BBC Sport's John Murphy, and Univision Deportes' Alexis Salinas
It's important to remember that everybody is involved, he added. It's all about the talent and them buying into it.
John Murphy, creative director, motion, BBC Sport, concurred that getting on-air talent to buy in is important: because a green-screen environment doesn't offer the typical physical set, talent needs to spend a bit more time rehearsing. BBC coverage of the Match of the Day for the EPL, he said, takes advantage of Unreal Engine to deliver photorealistic looks and, when combined with keying technology that has improved by leaps and bounds, allows four shows shot in the same stadium to have truly individual looks.
Creatively, he noted, we are not where we want to be and are just scratching the surface, but we have a big summer coming up with the Euros and Tokyo Olympics.
Even if AR is used for the day-to-day, it is still needed in the really big shows, and ESPN worked hard on an AR moment for the opening pre-tease of the College Football National Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans in January.
Our moment of glory stayed on-air for 30 seconds, he said. We were proud of that, and we kept selling the AR graphics for the rest of the game. We achieved our goals, but there is still room for improvement, like integrating further with the stadium feeds so we can have a full stadium takeover.
Arguably the best example of how AR and mixed reality can take over a stadium was at Super Bowl LIV when the NFL celebrated the 100th anniversary with an on-field tribute to the 100 greatest players and 10 greatest coaches. Andrew Isaacson, EVP, The Famous Group, discussed the project, which posed three challenges: 110 names had to be mentioned in seven minutes; a third of those were deceased so needed to be referenced in a respectful way; and the rehearsal schedule for the on-field and real-world participation of former players and coaches was tight.
We started with a 3D scan of [Miami's Hard Rock Stadium], he explained. That was a digital blueprint for the software so we would know where the field, the concourses, and the videoboards are, as well as the field goals. And we had to do the rehearsal at 6:04 p.m. [the day before the game] to make sure the lighting worked for when the physical and virtual objects would come together.
Isaacson also discussed a project done for a Ravens game where a virtual raven would fly around the stadium. That meant getting the camera operator to become part of the live theater and sell the shot as if the raven were unexpected.
We told him he had to make it look like he was surprised, with a big whip pan, he said. The whole production team has to be educated to see how it comes together.
AR as the ultimate analysis tool is also an evolving project, and Patrick Armstrong, supervising producer, production technologies, MLB Network/NHL Network, discussed how the networks use Ross Video's Piero Sports Graphics Analysis Tool to overlay graphics and have them shown from one camera shot to the next. It's a process that involves helping the analysts understand how the graphics will help tell the story and, occasionally, working with the vendor support team on technical efforts that can push the envelope.
Piero and Ross have great customer support in place, he noted. They can get on the phone and solve any problems we have in a timely manner. The people on the other end of the line have used the software and can solve problems in a pinch.
Isaacson added that backup servers and cameras are important additions to a live AR production. The goal is to run a clean show. Having enough backups and a backup plan was our secret.
Alexis Salinas, senior director, technical creative services, Univision Deportes, agreed, pointing out that, with a physical studio, an equipment failure is much more manageable. He discussed how the recently rebranded TUDN network had production teams in Mexico and the U.S. last year working more efficiently by sharing graphics packages.
The new look is very 2D, so a challenge is how to put 3D with a 2D look, he added. But we have a common strategy and implementation with Unreal Engine across multiple territories.
Much of TUDN's sports-production efforts are around soccer, and Salinas said th
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...
Sports Graphics Forum: AR Enhances Virtually Every Aspect of a Production Panelists from ESPN, BBC Sport, The Famous Group, MLB Network/NHL Network, Univision Deportes discuss their respective efforts By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
