Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

ABC/ESPN Focused on Audio, Access in UFL Postseason Coverage

06/06/2025

ABC/ESPN Focused on Audio, Access in UFL Postseason Coverage There will be a separate alt-cast ESPN feed, with a heavy focus on live audio, for the championship game on June 14 By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor

Friday, June 6, 2025 - 8:26 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

As the UFL's sophomore season concludes over the next week, ABC/ESPN will continue to emphasize audio and access in its coverage of the spring football league, including adding a new audio-centric alternative broadcast on ESPN during the championship broadcast.

The UFL's second season will culminate with the June 14 championship game on ABC (Terrance Williams / ESPN Images)

The players and teams have put in so much effort over the season to get here, we want to capture that excitement and emotion they bring to the field, says Jim Birch, ESPN Senior Operations Manager. With the league's collaboration, and our partners at FOX, we bring the viewers inside the action and behind the scenes of each and every play.

On June 8, ABC will air one conference finals matchup featuring the Michigan Panthers at the Birmingham Stallions (3 p.m. ET, Protective Stadium). Additionally, the network will also broadcast the championship game at 8 p.m. ET on June 14 from The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Mo. Both games will also be simulcast on ESPN .

For the broadcasts, ABC/ESPN will use the same REMI production model that it has leveraged for the entire 2025 UFL regular season, according to Eric Kimmel, REMI Operations Supervisor.

This allows the operators who worked all the regular season games to bring that game knowledge and team development they have to the final games of the season, he says.

For the postseason, ABC/ESPN also wants to continue to integrate UFL technologies into the live broadcasts, similar to what the network accomplished during the regular season, according to Birch. That includes TruLine visual tracking and MindFly point-of-view cameras, among other technologies.

A microphone will be embedded in the kickoff tees for both teams during ABC/ESPN postseason coverage of the UFL (Courtesy of Jim Birch)

For the championship game in particular, ABC/ESPN will expand the number of transmission paths back to Bristol, Conn. with the addition of multiple handheld and point-of-view cameras capturing locker room and tunnel action. This will have a similar look to ABC/ESPN's College Football Playoff REMI games that showcased flexibility and efficiency, Kimmel says.

The camera complement for both ABC broadcasts will include 10 hard cameras, eight point-of-view cameras, four handhelds (two are RF) and a Skycam. There will also be 20 microphones to cover Efx and announcer audio. Meanwhile, a microphone will be embedded in the kickoff tees for both teams. Mitch Workman, ESPN Operations Specialist, created and tested the tee during preseason games, Birch says. It was utilized during the regular season.

Kimmel says ABC/ESPN also wants to capitalize on the success of the UFL season with player microphones and body-worn cameras featuring microphones. The company specifically wants to expand the number of players wearing microphones for the championship. The A1 will have 35 individual audio sources to capture audio from players, coaches and referees, per Kimmel. The UFL has been a great partner in the audio access they have allowed this season, and it really draws the viewers into each and every play called, he adds.

Additionally, for the championship game, a separate audio-focused alternative broadcast feed on ESPN will highlight live audio from coaches, players and the replay command center to enhance the overall viewing experience.

From a production standpoint, ABC/ESPN will integrate its cloud-based super slo-mo replay system into the championship game broadcast via two 4x cameras.

Birch says each postseason game produced by ABC/ESPN features 19 personnel in Bristol working remotely while the conference championship game will feature 83 on-site staff. That number grows to 88 for the championship.

The playoffs wrap up a second season which Kimmel says was a huge success.

In 2024, there were less than 90 days from the league formation to the first game, he says. This year, we have utilized the expanded time to align with production goals and provide detailed communication with the league, vendors, locations and crewing.

Additional vendors and third-party companies that are contributing to ABC/ESPN postseason coverage of the UFL include Skycam, NEP Specialty, CP Communications, Fletcher, Chapman, Illumination Dynamics, Saunders, G3DVu and The Switch.

Key ABC/ESPN personnel for the UFL postseason include John LaChance (Executive Director), Jim Birch (Senior Operations Manager), Mitch Workman (Operations Specialist), Eric Kimmel (REMI Operations Supervisor), Tatianna Montalvo (Senior Operations Coordinator), Sam Dusenbury (Technical Operations Manager), Tim Denyes (Operations Specialist), Adam Ramirez (Operations Producer), Tony Gregory (Operations Producer), Aaron Thompson (Operations Coordinator), Brie Peters (Operations Coordinator), Charlie Skoog (Senior Operations Coordinator) and Matt Garrison (Operations Coordinator).
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/06/06/abc-espn-focused-on-audio-acces...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

14/07/2025

Sony's New Coach's Headset Was Designed in Collaboration With the NFL

Sony's New Coach's Headset Was Designed in Collaboration With the NFL Featuring a custom dynamic boom mic, the headset will debut in the fall By Dan Da...

14/07/2025

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network's Marc Caiafa and Tom Guidice on the Weeklong Efforts in Atlanta

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network's Marc Caiafa and Tom Guidice on th...

13/07/2025

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network Marks Five Straight Years of Onsite MLB Draft Coverage

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network Marks Five Straight Years of Onsite MLB...

11/07/2025

Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks Adjusts Broadcast Booths for Rangers, Devils

Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...

11/07/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Clients' Needs With Scalable Cloud-Based Storage

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...

11/07/2025

2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transition to the Cloud

2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...

11/07/2025

A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP

A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff Friday, July 1...

11/07/2025

CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimbledon

CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...

11/07/2025

Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-Serrano 3 Card at MSG

Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...

10/07/2025

5G for All? What the DFL's Use of Easy5G, RefCam Could Mean for Events in the Future

5G for all? What the DFL's use of Easy5G and RefCam could mean for events in...

10/07/2025

Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-15

Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-...

10/07/2025

Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New Era

Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New...

10/07/2025

Seattle Kraken's Ryan Schaber on the NHL Team Taking Live Game Productions In-House

Seattle Kraken's Ryan Schaber on the NHL Team Taking Live Game Productions I...

10/07/2025

FOX Sports Reboots Small Control Room in Los Angeles as Hub for Vertical-First Production

FOX Sports Reboots Small Control Room in Los Angeles as Hub for Vertical-First P...

10/07/2025

SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint Venture Targeting Local-Sports-Media Market

SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint...

09/07/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment, ViewLift Unveil Broadcast/Streaming Joint Venture as Regional Sports Market Transforms

Monumental Sports & Entertainment, ViewLift Unveil Broadcast/Streaming Joint Ven...

09/07/2025

SVG Europe Audio - State of Wireless Mics Forum: If We Lose the Spectrum, It's Going Back to the Boring Stuff

SVG Europe Audio State of Wireless Mics Forum: If we lose the spectrum, it...

09/07/2025

Tech Focus: Athlete Audio - Venues Provide Sound Just for the Players

Tech Focus: Athlete Audio - Venues Provide Sound Just for the Players From locker room to field of play, personalized systems help rev up the athletes By Dan D...

08/07/2025

Groundbreaking Gamecocks: Inside University of South Carolina's Four-Control Room Production Palace

Groundbreaking Gamecocks: Inside University of South Carolina's Four-Control...

08/07/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment's Samantha Brady on the Power of the RSN's Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Service Monumental+

Monumental Sports & Entertainment's Samantha Brady on the Power of the RSN&#...

08/07/2025

Live From 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: FIFA, HBS Focus on Tournament Wrap, With an Eye to 2026 Men's World Cup

Live From 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: FIFA, HBS Focus on Tournament Wrap, With an ...

08/07/2025

SVG Rewind: NESN Goes Behind the Scenes of 1975 Red Sox Retro Broadcast

SVG Rewind: NESN Goes Behind the Scenes of 1975 Red Sox Retro Broadcast NESN is following up the retrocast with a week-long celebration of the Green Monster By...

07/07/2025

1-2 Punch: The Cloud, Generative AI, and the Future of Sports-Content Distribution

1-2 Punch: The Cloud, Generative AI, and the Future of Sports-Content Distributi...

07/07/2025

Formula E: Host Broadcaster Aurora on Launching New AR Graphics at the Jakarta E-Prix

Tests and decisions: Formula E host broadcaster Aurora on launching new AR graph...

07/07/2025

Formula E: Using New AR Graphics for Storytelling at the Formula E Penultimate, Final E-Prix of the Season

Building tension: Using new AR graphics for storytelling at the Formula E penult...

07/07/2025

SVG Rewind: Four NFL Clubs Bring Us on Set of Respective Media Day Shoots

SVG Rewind: Four NFL Clubs Bring Us on Set of Respective Media Day Shoots An in-depth conversation with 49ers Laura Johnson, Ravens Jay O'Brien, Las Vegas R...

07/07/2025

Cosm To Build Fifth Shared Reality Venue in Cleveland as Part of Bedrock's Rock Block' Development

Cosm To Build Fifth Shared Reality Venue in Cleveland as Part of Bedrock's ...

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Aurora's Matt Beal on Taking Up the Broadcast Reins Alongside the FIA

Progressive realism: Aurora on taking up the broadcast reins for World RX alongs...

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Getting the Production Together With NEP Finland, Cloudbass Graphics

Great speed: New host broadcaster Aurora on getting the World RX 2025 season pro...

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Host Broadcaster Aurora Looks Ahead to This Weekend's Second Race of the Season in Hljes

Seat of its pants: Aurora boxes clever and looks ahead for the FIA as new host b...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: EBU, BBC Sport, Sunset+Vine Talk Coverage Plans, Distribution and Maintaining Momentum

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: EBU, BBC Sport and Sunset Vine talk coverage plans, ...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Women's Super League Launches New Content Series to Support Teams, Players Over Summer of Football

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Women's Super League launches new content series...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Ignite Puts Fans, Players Front and Center With Title Sequence for ITV

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Ignite puts fans and players front and centre with t...

02/07/2025

Storytelling in the Live Game Broadcast: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt Breaks Down the Craft

Storytelling in the Live Game Broadcast: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt Breaks Down t...

02/07/2025

CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Production Plan

CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Productio...

01/07/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Expansion in the U.S.

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Exp...

01/07/2025

The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus Video Production

The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus...

01/07/2025

Cherry On the Cake: Inside the Technical Production of the Tour de France 2025 with EMG / Gravity Media

Cherry on the cake: Inside the technical production of the Tour de France 2025 w...

01/07/2025

NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins Fans

NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, ...

01/07/2025

TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge

TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge Production approach emphasizes creative freedom, bold storytelling, casual-fan-friendly tone B...

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...