With 36 Unilateral Cameras, NBC Sports Shapes 154th Open Championship Coverage for U.S. Viewers

In a return to Royal Birkdale, the team enjoys partnering with ETP and Gravity Media on a production marked by uncharacteristically hot weather

The NBC Sports golf-production team has a team of 140 onsite for the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, about an hour's drive north of Manchester. For Allison McAllister, VP, golf operations, NBC Sports, and the team, returning to an Open site for a second time has meant smooth sailing, especially amidst sunny skies and weather conditions atypical of an Open Championship.

We partner with the R&A and European Tour Productions [ETP] to plan coverage, and that starts a good year ahead of the Open, she says. We have an incredible team that works together seamlessly. Through strong planning and clear communication, we make sure every group and department is supported and that every detail is taken care of.

Experience working on this event at this course makes much of it rinse-and-repeat, although NBC's coverage has evolved in 10 years. Also, besides the 140 people onsite, NBC has a team in Stamford, CT, putting together the All-Access coverage and a Marquee Group production team working at IMG in Stockley Park, UK, bringing the total headcount to nearly 160.

The core on-course bells and whistles are spearheaded primarily by ETP and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. Notes McAllister, Those depend on what ETP and the R&A are looking to showcase.

From left: NBC Sports' Tavi Wright, Allison McAllister, Craig Bernstein, Jason Abrams, Blaise Fernandez, and Krystyna Kosciuszko at the 154th Open Championship at Royal BirkdaleThe collaboration with the R&A, ETP, and Gravity Media is the key to great coverage, says Craig Bernstein, VP, remote technical operations, NBC Sports. Our collaboration with them on operations and engineering is the linchpin of what makes this event a success. And, from our side this is [NBC Sports Director, Remote Technical Operations] Jason Abrams's first time leading the tournament, and it has been a successful transition.

Working with Gravity Media Director, Golf Operations, Hamish Greig and his team and the ETP, Abrams says, has been great and began in March during the PLAYERS Championship. [Grieg] is one of the best partners you could ever imagine. He comes ready with notes and plans, and you just become part of the planning. It's much more than a mobile-based plan like we typically do: they build up an IBC.

NBC is deploying 36 unilateral cameras: 22 unilateral hard cameras, four handheld cameras, a few beauty cameras, and cameras for post-match interviews. We have access to all the ETP world feeds as splits, Abrams adds. And we're even accessing a few feeds from Sky Sports that they are feeding to ETP. We used those this morning and last night.

He has been impressed by the steps the ETP has taken for on-course coverage: bunker cams, for example, are important on a course like Royal Birkdale. The cameras are installed with conduits, and every bunker here has a great wall in front of it, so it's a totally different game versus domestic golf.

And then, he continues there are the differences in camera setups with knolls and hills and how they pre-plan so the camera guys can just fall into place. It's a different model of production, but Hamish and Greg Livermore [director, technical solutions, Gravity Media] and their team have been awesome to work with.

The big story for the past few weeks in the UK and Europe has been the higher temperatures, and this year's Open Championship does feel much more akin to a summer tournament in the U.S. than to the typical Open Championship, with its wind, rain, and temperatures barely cracking 70 - if fans and the crew are lucky. This year, temperatures have been closer to 80 although they are forecast to cool off a bit as the tournament progresses.

We partner closely with [ETP Production Executive] Molly Reed to make sure we're sharing the latest heat-related guidance with our team, says McAllister. It's the little things that make a big difference: like ensuring everyone has what they need, whether that's sunshade umbrellas for the camera crew or other essentials to stay safe and comfortable.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/07/16/with-36-unilateral-cameras-nbc-...
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