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

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

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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...
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