Live From Super Bowl LIX: ESPN Studio Ops Spreads Across Big Easy From Fulton Street Square to Radio Row Multiple sets utilize REMI workflows tying shows back the networks headquarters in Bristol, CT By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 10:28 am
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You can sense the anticipation from the team at ESPN here in New Orleans. The network's first-ever Super Bowl Super Bowl LXI in Los Angeles on Valentine's Day 2027 is now just two years away.
While so much of what ESPN is doing this week five studio sets in various spots around the city seems like the status quo for covering an event as big as the Super Bowl, there's no denying that the various technologies and workflows are being deployed not just to build engaging programming this week but also with an eye to that Big Game in two years.
NFL Live broadcasts from ESPN's main set in New Orleans at Fulton Street Square on Friday afternoon.
This week in New Orleans, ESPN is here in force with the network's main set positioned through Friday evening at Fulton Street Square as the home to weekday studio programming like Get Up, First Take, NFL Live, occasional hits for SportsCenter, and even some ESPN International programming. All of that stretches the space's broadcast day over approximately 13 hours.
Having had the privilege of being involved with our Super Bowl coverage in some form, shape, or fashion since 2009, that has allowed me to see the plethora of iterations and evolution over the years, says Carlton Young, Director, Remote Operations for ESPN. What stands out the most is the scale of our operations. Not only from a technical aspect, but also logistics and personnel resources. In all areas we've become more lean and agile, which obviously benefits our bottom line, when all is said and done.
ESPN's Carlton Young (left) and Mark Mignini at the network's primary studio set at Fulton Street Square.
According to Mark Mignini, Senior Manager, Remote Operations (Studio) at ESPN, set up at the main stage began Monday morning. Live Media Group's MU-21 mobile production facility parked a block over from the set position on St. Peter's Street. A mobile stage from MB Pro Sound and lighting from Illumination Dynamics and HVAC was up and running by the end of the day. Tech was up on Tuesday and the stage was off and running with live programming.
Meanwhile, ESPN also had two sets at Media Row over at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center: one for The Pat McAfee Show, the other for ESPN Radio and its day's worth of national programming like Unsportsmanlike and others; as well as some podcast recordings. ESPN Bet also has a set positioned on Loyola Ave. as part of a music and fan activation.
The Pat McAfee Show broadcast this week from Media Row at the New Orleans Convention Center.
Four of those sets were broken down following Friday's broadcast day - the only exception is ESPN Bet on Loyola Ave, which will continue through Sunday - and the scene will shift over to the stadium where shows like SportsCenter and Postseason NFL Countdown will carry the weekend and get Super Bowl Sunday started for fans at home. Shows from the stadium are supported by Game Creek Video's Columbia mobile production facility.
Most all of the network's production models include some form of remote integration, where they are transmitting signals back to the network's headquarters in Bristol, CT to be fully produced in control rooms there.
We've been able to take advantage of reducing our overall footprints in many cases by eliminating the amount of mobile units, satellite uplinks and associated ancillary equipment, says Young. The use of fiber installations on location, in addition to more IP based solutions, has driven these initiatives. It allows us to cover just as much, if not more content as we did in the previous years, with less infrastructure and expense.
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Live From Super Bowl LIX: ESPN Studio Ops Spreads Across Big Easy From Fulton Street Square to Radio Row Multiple sets utilize REMI workflows tying shows back the networks headquarters in Bristol, CT By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
