ESPN Unleashes 4DREPLAY as NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships Hit ABC Men's championships to follow Saturday night on ESPN2 By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, April 18, 2025 - 9:57 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Saturday (4 p.m. ET) marks the fifth consecutive year that ESPN will broadcast the finals of the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships on ABC.
Throughout that half decade, the broadcaster has introduced a wave of innovations to improve the live-viewing experience of this rapidly growing sport. From live leaderboards (which, in gymnastics, is far more complicated than it sounds) to graphical enhancements that illustrate the elite athleticism of the student-athletes, ESPN has revolutionized the presentation of women's gymnastics.
The trend continues this year with the debut of 4DREPLAY on two apparatuses: vault and uneven bars. The technology produces volumetric, time-slice frozen moment replays that immerse viewers in a previously impossible perspective of the sport's most dynamic moments. The image is produced by stitching together images from 30 cameras arranged in a semicircle around the apparatus.
Gymnastics delivers a perfect environment for volumetric replays provided by 4DReplay, says Phil Orlins, VP, production technology and innovation, ESPN. The vault and uneven bars offer close proximity and an eye-level shot of the athlete that is ideal for showcasing the dynamic action. These time-slice freezes give us the tools to provide in-depth analysis of fast-moving content like never before.
Orlins and ESPN have plenty of experience with 4DREPLAY, having used it most recently on events like the 2024 MLB Home Run Derby.
--
Video clip courtesy of ESPN.
Tech That Bridges the Gap
Beyond the 4DREPLAY integration, ESPN's broadcast team stationed at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX, continues to enhance the understanding of gymnastics with such tools as height meters and protractors providing relatable metrics for viewers.
The enhancements are valuable also for the analysts on the broadcast: Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman, silver medalist Samantha Peszek, and three-time Olympian John Roethlisberger.
Tech tools, like the protractors and the height meters, create a relationship between what is happening and what [the fans] already know, says Roethlisberger, a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in 1992 (Barcelona), 1996 (Atlanta), and 2000 (Sydney) while competing collegiately at the University of Minnesota. Everyone knows how high a basketball hoop is. When we show the height meter on vault or bars and it goes 6 ft. above the high bar, which is already 8 ft. off the ground and we say that [the gymnast's] head is 14 ft. above the floor, every human in the world goes, 14 ft., that's 4 ft. higher than a basketball hoop. That's 4 ft. higher than Anthony Edwards can dunk a basketball.' There's a lot of those things that have helped make [the sport] more understandable and relatable to the audience.
Roethlisberger also credits women's collegiate gymnastics for developing a set of rules and a scoring system that make it much easier for the audience to follow compared with other disciplines of the sport.
Women's college gymnastics has figured out how to make the rules the most understandable rules on the planet Earth, he says. Because of that, along with all the things that networks like ESPN have done to bring it to your living room and make it understandable and visually appealing, every person that watches gymnastics, by the third night, [is watching a routine and] going, That's 9.9. I remember, two nights ago, she got a 9.8 when she took a big step forward on her landing and Aly and Sam said that cost her two-tenths. Now she stuck it, and that's going to be a 9.9.' That is what women's college gymnastics has done and no other version of gymnastics has done.
All the tech enhancements, including slow-motion-capable cameras and in-depth replay, do create an interesting dynamic for the sport.
It's a blessing and a curse in some ways, says Peszek, who was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in 2008 and competed collegiately at UCLA. We have the ability to show replays in slow motion, and guess who doesn't get to see the replays in slow motion: the judges. To John's point about the [fan] conversation of I thought she should have scored this' while watching a side-by-side replay and the only people that don't have the luxury of watching it are the judges, I think we're getting a lot of heated conversation around judging. We have the ability to take a microscope to everybody's routine and each skill and the protractor, and we replay it to see if it was actually vertical. I think what a lot of fans don't take into account is where the judges are sitting, the angle that they're at. Also, they're seeing it in real time, and humans have the ability to make errors.
Enhanced Fan Engagement With Stream Team Beyond the championship on ABC, ESPN+ will again feature its popular Stream Team coverage, bringing personality and insight directly from a lineup of NCAA greats. This year's team comprises Olympic silver medalist and Florida legend Bridget Sloan, Oklahoma's four-time NCAA champion Anastasia Webb, 11-time All-American Kennedy Baker, and ESPN newcomer Trinity Thomas, an 11-time NCAA All-American and two-time Honda Award winner.
In a fresh twist for 2025, instead of traditional apparatus-only streams, viewers can follow specific teams throughout the arena on dedicated feeds with tailored commentary. Each stream pairs two teams with expert analysis, letting fans personalize their experience in unprecedented ways.
Immediately following the women's final, the NCAA Men's Championship takes center stage on ESPN2
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
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...
08/01/2026
Spain's national public broadcaster, RTVE, has upgraded one of its main television production facilities in Madrid with the installation of two Alfalite NEO...
08/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
08/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
08/01/2026
Maxon's new release of Cinebench features performance enhancements and adds support for the latest Nvidia and AMD GPUs as well as Apple Silicon.
Maxon is t...
08/01/2026
Zixi, the industry leader in IP-based video transport and orchestration, today announced the appointment of Heather Mellish as Vice President, Global Sales.
In...
08/01/2026
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, has provided a complete update of its installation at Canal Sur in Spain. ...
08/01/2026
iWedia, a global leader in software solutions for connected TV devices, proudly announces the success of its collaboration with Panasonic on the Z95B OLED TV, o...
08/01/2026
Secuoya Chile, a leading provider of television content creation and supporting services, has invested in Ikegami UHK-X600 and UHL-X40 broadcast cameras as the ...
08/01/2026
Kiloview, a global leader in AV-over-IP solutions, will showcase its latest innovations at ISE 2026, highlighting the continued evolution of its complete, light...
08/01/2026
iWedia, a global leader in software solutions for connected TV devices, and Realtek, a leading global SoC design house, today announced the next phase of their ...
08/01/2026
CJP Broadcast has completed a new pitch-side media installation for Cinderford RFC, creating a flexible production setup that supports match coverage, coaching ...
08/01/2026
PlayBox Neo further drives momentum in Playout, Streaming, Media Management and Delivery
"With a brand new year at PlayBox Neo already off to a flying start, I...
08/01/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Presents Second Annual Commercial Dance BFA Conce...
08/01/2026
It will be murder on the dancefloor when Dancing with the Stars returns this S...
08/01/2026
NVIDIA is wrapping up a big week at the CES trade show with a set of GeForce NOW...
07/01/2026
SVG Summit 2025: All General Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAYThe SVG Summit celebrated its 20th edition with a loaded agendaBy Brandon Costa, Directo...
07/01/2026
NBCU's Brings Rinkside Live' and Courtside Live' Features to Peaco...
07/01/2026
Spotify is launching a week-long celebration spotlighting creators at the center...
07/01/2026
We know people use Spotify not just to listen, but to share the songs, podcasts, and audiobooks they love with their friends and family. When we launched Messag...
07/01/2026
This week, all eyes are on the podcast industry as the Golden Globes recognizes ...
07/01/2026
Podcasts are stepping onto a new stage this week as the Golden Globes recognize the medium for the first time. To mark this milestone moment, we're hosting ...
07/01/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), in collaboration with a distributor, is commissioning new micro-budget fiction feature films and invites eligible...
07/01/2026
NASA's Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at ...
07/01/2026
For the first time ever, new C' variants allow international users to interoperate with U.S. personnel via NSA-certified cryptography....
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Abu Dhabi, UAE 7, January 2026 - Abu Dhabi Police and Space42 (ADX: SPACE42), ...
07/01/2026
Back to All News
The Trailer of Paparazzi King: The 5-Episode Docuseries Coming...
07/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Supports Warner Bros. Discovery Board's Commitment...
07/01/2026
Back to All News
What Next? Netflix Reveals Series, Films and Games Coming in 2026
Entertainment
07 January 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download ...
07/01/2026
AI has transformed retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) operations, enhancin...
ESPN Unleashes 4DREPLAY as NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships Hit ABC Men's championships to follow Saturday night on ESPN2 By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
