MLS Kickoff 2025: With Opening Weekend Ahead, NEP Group Ramps Up Production Workflows for Another Edition of MLS Season Pass

MLS Kickoff 2025: With Opening Weekend Ahead, NEP Group Ramps Up Production Workflows for Another Edition of MLS Season Pass NEP Supershooter 4, extra gear will support new primetime Sunday Night Soccer package By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Friday, February 21, 2025 - 2:20 pm

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Professional soccer in the U.S. is re-entering the spotlight with 15 total matches on Saturday and Sunday to begin the 2025 Major League Soccer schedule. NEP Group, returning as the main production and operations provider of Apple TV's MLS Season Pass, will deploy multiple trucks, gear, and remote-production workflows throughout the season and for the league's new Sunday Night Soccer primetime package.

Prioritizing fandom, MLS has turned to NEP to develop ways of capturing the essence of the league's players through technology and content distribution, says Jeff Jacobs, SVP, production, NEP Group. To push the production even further, NEP Specialty Capture department will deploy cutting-edge technology and bring new levels of excitement and innovation to MLS storytelling.

NEP Supershooter 9 will be parked at San Jose, CA's PayPal Park for San Jose Earthquakes vs. Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

Sunday Night F tbol: NEP Works With League To Develop Backbone for Sunday Night Soccer In 2020, MLS celebrated its 25th season with new kits for all clubs during the COVID-19-impacted MLS Is Back Tournament. Five years later, with the league heading into its 30th season, a bigger splash will bring U.S. soccer into the limelight of Sunday-night primetime. Sunday Night Soccer will offer marquee matchups to national and international audiences, showcasing the league's commitment to high-quality television.

Sunday Night Soccer represents the next evolution in MLS's production journey, building on the success of MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, says Josh Liemer, president, NEP Connected Solutions. NEP has played a pivotal role in delivering more than 2,000 events over the past two seasons, but, alongside MLS, we're enhancing storytelling, creativity, and editorial depth to capture the MLS brand for their fans. Few leagues understand their fans better than MLS, and Sunday Night Soccer is a direct reflection of that.

NEP Production Hub in South Florida will handle centralized production and other aspects of MLS Season Pass.

The package's first broadcast will be LA Galaxy vs. the brand-new San Diego FC at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 23. The match, like the full slate of contests, will be supported by NEP Supershooter 4 mobile unit and a robust tech arsenal. Also deployed will be extra gear from NEP Rentals and RF, Steadicams, and goal robos from NEP Specialty Capture. With this technological firepower at its disposal, the league is poised for a great start on Sunday.

Sunday Night Soccer isn't just another broadcast, says Jacobs. It's a statement. It's a bold, meaningful step forward in how MLS continues to redefine soccer in the U.S., cementing its place as a global leader in the sport.

NEP M15 will be outside Seattle's Lumen Field for Seattle Sounders vs. Charlotte FC on Saturday.

This development builds on the relationship that has been in place for many years. Most notably, in 2023, NEP Group entered a partnership with the league and other stakeholders for the launch of MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Because of the partnership, MLS production across all tiers was consolidated into a single platform, and more than 1,000 events were delivered in 1080p.

Four-Site Approach: Separate Facilities Specialize in Aspects of Overall Operation As in previous years, four facilities within NEP Group's ecosystem - NEP Production Hub in South Florida, NEP Production Hub in Los Angeles, NEP Datacenter in Dallas, and NEP MediaBank in Washington, DC - will serve specific purposes for every match. With centralized production, transmission, and distribution in South Florida; the Network Operations Center, private-cloud support, and league-wide communication to all MLS venues in Dallas; ingest, archival, and media-asset management in DC; and seamless integration to the platform in L.A., the four sites create a comprehensive roadmap for the league's year-long productions. The approach has already paid dividends in the first two years of the partnership and is altering the way leagues share content and live broadcasts with customers.

MLS's decision to take control of its broadcast rights and, alongside Apple, create MLS Season Pass has revolutionized how leagues distribute content, says Liemer. This model will go down in history as pioneering, and the fact that NEP has had the privilege - and, more important, the trust - of MLS to help execute this vision continues to inspire and excite our entire team.

Another piece of the four-site production model, NEP Production Hub in Los Angeles is responsible for seamless integration with Apple TV.

A large fleet of NEP Group's mobile units will be onsite at stadiums across the country. Eight trucks will be on the road on Saturday, including NCPX for Inter Miami-NYCFC at Chase Stadium, TS2 for Columbus Crew-Chicago Fire FC at Lower.com Field, ND6 for Houston Dynamo-FC Dallas at Shell Energy Stadium, M15 for Seattle Sounders-Charlotte FC at Lumen Field, Supershooter 5 for Nashville SC-New England Revolution at Geodis Park, Supershooter 7 for D.C. United-Toronto FC at Audi Field, Supershooter 8 for Austin FC-Sporting Kansas City at Q2 Stadium, Supershooter 9 for San Jose Earthquakes-Real Salt Lake at PayPal Park, and Supershooter 33 for LAFC-Minnesota United at BMO Stadium. On Sunday, NEP M14 will handle Portland Timbers-Vancouver Whitecaps at Providence Park prior to the debut of Sunday Night Soccer from the City of Angels.

In addition to Sunday Night Soccer, NEP Rentals is pr

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