NFL International Series: Sky Sports opts for an enhanced production as the Jags prepare to take on the Bears in London By Will Strauss
Friday, October 11, 2024 - 10:16
Print This Story
In the latest game in the NFL's International Series, the Jacksonville Jaguars will be looking to kickstart their faltering start to the season when they take on the Chicago Bears at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Sky Sports holds the rights to show the game live in the UK and Ireland. SVG Europe caught up with senior producer Alex Jackson on the eve of the Week 6 matchup to find out how the broadcaster will handle pre-match, half-time and post-match coverage.
The London games are our FA Cup Final, acknowledges Jackson. It's a real opportunity for us to showcase to the UK audience, what we're all about. So, we invest a lot of time and resources into trying to make it the best possible production.
Sky's NFL output is ordinarily helmed from a mixed reality studio at its HQ in Osterley, West London. But for this home' fixture, the presentation team will be going on-site.
As much as we're proud of our new studio, you can't beat being on-site, continues Jackson. We want to bring the atmosphere of an NFL game to the viewers at home. You get such a difference when you're on site. The atmosphere comes crashing through your screen and that's what you want.
The on-screen team at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium will include longstanding host Neil Reynolds, former NFL players Jason Bell and Ndamukong Suh, NFL analyst Phoebe Schecter, and reporter Olivia Harlan Dekker.
The Bears have given us access to shoot in their locker room before the team arrives. That's exclusive access. It's an opportunity for us to peel back the curtain and take the viewers to a part of the stadium that they wouldn't normally go.
Sky has several different presentation positions available to them on Sunday.
We try to bounce around areas to take the viewers closer to the stadium. We're going to present the match build-up from field side. We have a reporter position field side too which we can use for updates during the game or at halftime. Our reporter, Olivia Harlan Dekker, will grab interviews with players post-match.
We're going to try and stay in our presentation position up to kick off, he continues. And then Neil, Jason and Suh will reposition from field-side up to the broadcast studio in the stands that we use on Premier League games. Before the game, we'll also have a position outside the stadium because we feel the fans are a big part of the story during a London game.
Sky is also getting something that eludes many broadcasters, adds Jackson.
The Bears have given us access to shoot in their locker room before the team arrives. That's exclusive access. It's an opportunity for us to peel back the curtain and take the viewers to a part of the stadium that they wouldn't normally go. Phoebe and Suh are going to explain the intricacies of the locker room and the setup.
Although the presentation team will be on site, the production is being done remotely from Osterley (gallery pictured, above).
Jackson says: The director, director's assistant, technical supervisor, sound, graphics, producer, VT ops, they will be all be in our NFL gallery back at Sky. And then we have all the camera circuits coming in via fibre. For the first time for a Sky NFL London game, we've got a full HDR camera set up to improve the visual quality of what we're offering to our viewers.
Sky's presentation elements will be captured in 1080p HDR. To match this to the host match coverage, which is 1080p SDR, the host feed will be up-converted at Sky. The final output will be made available to viewers in both 1080p HDR and 1080p SDR.
In total, 45 people are working on the NFL output on Sunday, this includes the talent, the staff from Sky, and the crew from the OB provider EMG, plus those working for Sky Sports News and in Sky's Digital and Social teams.
Among the ongoing challenges for Sky is explaining the intricacies of the sport to viewers who are new to it. This can be solved, at least partly, through the language used by the talent but also via on-screen graphics and specially produced explainer content.
We're conscious that it is quite a complicated game, recognises Jackson (pictured above). And we definitely do our best not to assume knowledge. We've made a real effort over the last couple of years to make the coverage more accessible. We've moved away from Xs and Os. We've tried to focus more on the stars and not go too far down the analytical route.
We've recently upgraded our analysis software to Piero. Sometimes [with NFL] there is a feeling that there's just a sea of bodies and it's hard to know where you should be focussing your attention. We think it is important to help direct the viewers.
Phoebe is leading a series of explainers throughout the rest of the season. We think they're essential. These have already started. This Sunday we should be seeing the first episode of her jargon-busting series. But equally, we have a loyal audience. Many of the viewers have been with us for quite a while and we don't want to dumb it down. So it's a fine balance between not assuming too much and not patronising your audience.
Ross Video's Piero will play its part in this process too.
We've recently upgraded our analysis software to Piero to bring it in line with what the football [soccer] department and Premier League use. We think it is important to direct viewers to where they should be looking. Sometimes there is a feeling that there's just a sea of bodies and it's hard to know where you should be focussing your attention. That's why we've taken the time, e
Most recent headlines
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
03/01/2026
A still from OBEX by Albert Birney, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance...
02/01/2026
Freezing Florida: NHL's EVP, Entertainment Bob Chesterman on Taking the Wint...
02/01/2026
NHL Winter Classic 2026: TNT Sports Prepares for First NHL Outdoor Game in Sunsh...
02/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
02/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
02/01/2026
Any Given Day: Cork University Hospital premieres Wednesday 7 January on RT One and RT Player at 9:35pm
RT will debut a powerful new six-part documentary se...
02/01/2026
Friday 2 January 2026
All episodes of Heated Rivalry will be landing on Sky and...
02/01/2026
Sequins, chat shows, live sporting action, ground-breaking docuseries and brand-new Irish drama to kick off 2026
New Year, New Content Coming Soon across RT
...
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
01/01/2026
New year, new games, all with RTX 5080-powered cloud energy. GeForce NOW is kicking off 2026 by looking back at an unforgettable year of wins and wildly high fr...
31/12/2025
Back to All News
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-V...
30/12/2025
As the College Football Playoff Enters the Quarterfinals, ESPN Blows Out Its Meg...
30/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Original ArticlesTake a look back at all our coverage of big-time productions, game-changing technologies, and state-of-the-art new faci...
30/12/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Dec. 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its fourth quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, J...
30/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
30/12/2025
Your live countdown to 2026 with Inhaler, David Gray, Lyra, Garron Noone, Sharon...
30/12/2025
It marked the first civilian operational authorization for a HAPS flight in Europe, led by Space42's subsidiary, Mira Aerospace
The flight demonstrated HAP...
29/12/2025
San Francisco 49ers Strike Gold With Halftime Laser SpectacularStunning display caps $200 million renovation of Levi's Stadium techBy Dan Daley, Audio Edito...
29/12/2025
The Cup's Around the Corner: An Inside Look at Broadcast Preparations for th...
29/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Longform VideoWatch the standout keynote conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions from the year for free on SVG PLAY!By Brandon ...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
29/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
27/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
RT has unveiled an exclusive first look at the new Dancing with the Stars promo...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today!By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
P...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
NFL International Series: Sky Sports opts for an enhanced production as the Jags prepare to take on the Bears in London By Will Strauss 
