NFL Kickoff 2025: ESPN Opens Latest Era of Monday Night Football With New Trucks and a New Director

NFL Kickoff 2025: ESPN Opens Latest Era of Monday Night Football With New Trucks and a New DirectorGame Creek Flagship, Discovery roll in; Artie Kempner takes the directors chair as ESPN's primetime franchise evolves againBy Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Monday, September 8, 2025 - 12:14 pm

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When ESPN's Monday Night Football kicks off in Chicago tonight with an NFC North clash between the Vikings and Bears, the production will feature two of the most significant changes the franchise has seen behind the scenes in recent memory: a brand-new game truck and a new game director.

An ESPN camera operator captures a touchdown celebration during a game last season. (Photo: Allen Kee/ESPN Images)

Game Creek Video's Flagship, a fully IP-based mobile unit, will serve as the production home for the game broadcast, while longtime Fox NFL director Artie Kempner joins producer Steve Ackels at the front bench. Together, they represent both technological and creative shifts for ESPN's marquee NFL package.

Rolling Out the FlagshipGame Creek Video Flagship is ESPN's first full SMPTE ST 2110 truck, reflecting the industry's broader migration to IP. Outfitted with Sony HDC-5500 cameras and the latest in routing and replay technology, the truck is designed to simplify complex connections, scale easily for major events, and improve efficiency week to week.

Game Creek Video deploys Riedel technology in its newest OB trucks.

It's the culmination of where the industry's going, says Tommy Mitchell, Senior Manager, Remote Operations, ESPN. You get to build [a truck] from scratch with all the newest cameras and top-of-the-line systems. It opens up a lot of things for us-trucks being able to talk to each other faster, more efficiently, being able to move things without as much physical cabling. It creates a certain level of flexibility.

MORE: ESPN and Game Creek Video's New Once-in-a-Generation' Mobile Unit Is Capable of Native UHD HDR at Super Bowl Scale

The new build also better supports ESPN's increasingly common doubleheader Mondays, when two games air simultaneously. With more flexible routing, operators can reassign feeds and reprogram resources with less physical reconfiguration.

It's different when you build a new truck versus refreshing an older one, Mitchell says. You're not limited by legacy infrastructure. You're starting from scratch with everything aligned to the latest workflows.

Pylon cams (bottom right) return to the Monday Night Football camera arsenal in 2025. (Photo: Brooke Sutton/ESPN Images)

On the studio side, ESPN will lean on Game Creek's Discovery, which houses Monday Night Countdown and NFL Live. The separation between the studio and game units allows each team to operate independently.

Countdown can do everything they need to do and not feel like they're disrupting any part of the game, Mitchell explains.

A New Hand on the WheelThe debut of Flagship coincides with Kempner's arrival as game director. A veteran of more than three decades at Fox, Kempner brings a fresh voice to ESPN's presentation of the NFL.

He is the first director of his stature that I've worked with who didn't grow up at ESPN, Mitchell notes. To hear the perspective of someone who says, We all accomplish the same things, but we do it slightly differently,' has given us a new way of looking at things. Honestly, I think it's going to make us a lot better.

Kempner's early fingerprints include upgrades to SkyCam (a Sony HDC-P50A), changes to RF coverage (moving both RF handheld and Steadicam to Ronin rigs), and a switch from C360 to Fletcher Nucleus for goal-line and line-to-gain replay angles.

They're subtle tweaks, but they reflect a director unafraid to ask why ESPN has always done it this way. Even something as simple as how he sets up his game-day schedule-he wanted to change it, Mitchell says. We looked at each other and said, Why not?' It's been refreshing to rethink things.

Doubleheaders Test Crew DepthThe on-air team of Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, and Laura Rutledge may be the faces of the broadcast, but hundreds of ESPN staffers will execute each Monday night.

On the game side, Mitchell leads a deep bench of operations talent, including Remote Operations Producer BJ Smith; Sr. Remote Operations Producer Chris Swihart; Director, Specialist Operations Eddie Okuno; Sr. Remote Operations Specialist Jim Munn; Sr. Remote Operations Coordinators Samantha Majewski and Kylene Hamulak; and Operations Coordinator Kate Landers.

The doubleheader crew is led by producer/director tandem Jeff Dufine and Derek Mobley, supported by operations veterans Jack Coffey (who is taking a step out of retirement to help on busy weeks), Andrew Pennington, Brian Ristine, Kylene Hamulak, and Meredith Fenwick.

Monday Night Football's schedule now routinely features doubleheaders, particularly in September. That means two simultaneous A-level broadcasts, a logistical challenge for operations teams.

These are two versions of Monday Night Football, Mitchell stresses. The same level of oversight and care applies to both. It does create challenges, especially when launching a new truck, but our operations teams are up to it.

The first doubleheader falls in Las Vegas, where the second crew will be met by Allegiant Stadium, a venue with ample infrastructure.

It's a great place to do TV, Mitchell says, calling it an ideal site for the training wheels week.

Studio Shows Expand Their FootprintESPN's studio presence around Monday Night Football is growing. Monday Night Countdown will originate from site most weeks. New this year, NFL Live will also travel on Mondays, expanding to a two-hour window (3-5 p.m. ET).

Monday Night Co

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/09/08/nfl-kickoff-2025-espn-opens-new...
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