ESPN Takes All-Access' to the Next Level at WNBA All-Star Game With Wearable Camera, 15 Player/Coach/Ref Mics

ESPN Takes All-Access' to the Next Level at WNBA All-Star Game With Wearable Camera, 15 Player/Coach/Ref Mics The weekend's festivities will be produced and distributed in 1080p By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Friday, July 14, 2023 - 2:19 pm

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The WNBA has long been one of the most progressive leagues when it comes to in-game access to players and coaches. This weekend, the league and ESPN will look to set a new high-water mark in those efforts, deploying a wearable camera system on players' friends and family (and possibly players on the bench and refs during the game) and a whopping 15 mics on players, coaches, and refs for miked-up segments and in-game interviews.

Access is such an important part of our coverage these days, says ESPN Coordinating Producer Sara Gaiero. It has proved to be what fans connect with most, and they're always wanting more. The All-Star Game is the type of event that provides us the opportunity to lean in to that access even more than we would be able to in a traditional game. This league has always been collaborative and progressive in trying to push the envelope. That has never been more apparent than at All-Star.

The WNBA All-Star festivities kick off today at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas with the Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest on ESPN. The main event will be broadcast on ABC tomorrow beginning 8:30 p.m. ET and will be preceded by an onsite edition of WNBA Countdown. Play-by-play caller Ryan Ruocco, analyst Rebecca Lobo, and reporter Holly Rowe will call the action on both days.

An All-Access Perspective of the Action' Both Friday's and Saturday's telecasts will feature unique player-access elements, including miked-up participants and in-game interviews. ESPN will deploy an extensive complement of 27 cameras, similar to levels for WNBA Finals. A MoviCom wearable camera device powered by AT&T 5G will be worn by family/friends of players during the game.

The concept is that it gives you not only an all-access perspective of the action but also a different vantage point than what we are able to get with traditional camera angles, says Gaiero. We're also hoping to capitalize on the fun aspect of it. For example, we're looking to put that camera on a player's mom while [her daughter] is in the game. We can cut to that camera to get a sense of what it feels like to be the mom and what she's experiencing. [The viewer] can cheer right along with her and see the game through her lens.

ESPN is also working with the league to potentially have refs or players sitting on the bench wear the system, but these have not yet been confirmed.

This camera has become an interesting tool for us to bring out to shows, says Michael Sullivan, operations specialist, ESPN. We've utilized it now a couple times, and the extremely unique looks this camera provides is unmatched. We're going to get aggressive in testing different use cases of this camera this weekend.

In-Game Interviews Take Center Stage at All-Star In continuing with the theme of in-game access, ESPN will deploy close to 15 player/coach/ref mics to provide unprecedented access to the participants in All-Star Weekend. Most of the mics will be used for taped Mic'ed Up segments, but ESPN has requested that four total players - two on each team - wear the mic for live in-game interviews. ESPN also hopes to have four players miked for today's Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest.

We've seen success with [in-game player interviews] with MLB and how they've successfully navigated that path, says Gaiero. We're trying to replicate that success for WNBA, and the league is working hard to accommodate this.

This weekend marks just the latest chapter in ESPN's efforts on in-game interviews. In years past, ESPN would record interviews with players at the end of the first and third quarters. This season, ESPN reporters are conducting the interviews live before the commercial break. In addition, at the start of the second and fourth quarters, a coach puts on an IFB mic and is interviewed by ESPN's announce booth.

We've progressed a lot this season in terms of access during the games, and what we'd like to do in the All-Star game is take it one step further, says Gaiero. We are hoping to have a player join us at the start of the second and fourth quarter and interview them via the IFB as they come off the bench and check into the game. Then, hopefully, we can continue that conversation while they're playing in the game.

Sullivan adds, The timing of these interviews and access elements is going to be unique. The setup of All-Star allows us to bring the viewers unique perspectives and experiences in places in the game that traditionally would be impossible.

Plenty of Camera Firepower To Spare ESPN's camera arsenal also includes two RF cameras, one a shallow-depth-of-field Steadicam that will have access to the floor during free throws and other game stoppages. Although the WNBA All-Star Game format eliminates free throws except during the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and any overtime, Gaiero says her team will seek as many opportunities as possible to send the Steadicam on the floor.

If and when we do have free throws in those closing minutes, she says, we have the green light from the league to come onto the floor and get behind the player at the line with that RF camera. We will also try to find other ways to get on the floor whenever possible.

Three robos - two above-the-rim (ATR) systems, one under the centerhung videoboard - and two super-slo-mo camera systems will also be deployed. One of the super-slo-mos is a Sony HDC-4800 camera with a Fujinon HZK PL-mount cinematic lens that will be placed at a Low Boy low slash positi

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