Live From THE PLAYERS Championship: NBC Sports Expand TrackMan; JitaCam Enhances Coverage A production team of 285 is onsite wielding an arsenal of 65 cameras By Ken Kerschbaumer
Thursday, March 9, 2023 - 8:31 am
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It's day one of the 2023 PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, and the NBC Sports golf-production team is once again ready to cover all the action with a team of 285 for on-course coverage (working with 65 cameras), a team of 60 for Live From coverage, and some new production tweaks. Helping in the efforts is that good weather has made setup smooth and has everyone in a good place.
From left: NBC Sports execs Bridget Cugle, Allison McAllister, and Mark Caputo and Production Managers Megan Moltenbrey and Lauren Rose Maochi at the PLAYERS Championship
Everything has been great, says Allison McAllister, VP, golf operations, NBC Sports. We're lucky that we have a great team in place and a great partnership with the PGA TOUR, along with other vendors to make the PLAYERS a successful event.
The tournament tees off this morning, but the NBC team has been producing content since Monday when Golf Central Live From the PLAYERS began its coverage at 7-9 p.m. By the end of Sunday, the team will have delivered more than 40 hours of coverage.
According to Marc Caputo, director, remote technical operations, NBC Sports, Live From coverage is essentially the same as last year's, an 11-camera complement comprising a Flycam and four Telemetric cameras controlled from Stamford, CT. The Newbert flypack is once again on hand for transmission support between the course and Stamford. One change is that the Rules Official has moved into NEP Supershooter 17 unit, giving the production team space for a rain room. NEP ND1 and ND7 are at the center of NBC's coverage, with NEP XL1, Fiber 2, and ESU in supporting roles.
By the end of Sunday night, Golf Channel's Live From The PLAYERS will have delivered more than 40 hours of content to viewers.
We did add a second roving camera this year so we could do two different reporter standups simultaneously, Caputo adds. Robovision has provided the cameras at the practice range, both down range and back range, as well as the short-game area. They've been a good partner.
The FlyCam can get shots of he 16th fairway and green, the 17th tee shot and green, and players walking from 16 to 17.
Also this year, TrackMan is the PGA TOUR's official shot-tracing partner, giving the Live From team the ability to deliver tracing shots on the practice range.
As usual the par-3 Hole 17 island green - arguably the most pressure-packed par 3 in golf - will feature plenty of bells and whistles. A Flycam will run 225 yards from the stands behind the 17th green across the lake to the 16th green, and a BunkerCam from Fletcher will once again be inside the Hole 17th bunker.
One change on 17, notes Caputo, is that we will use a Robovision RoboHead for the super-slo-mo camera on Bird Island, rather than having a cameraperson there, for two reasons: EHS and for a cleaner look. The same operator will control it but will use a pan-bar hard-camera system to control a Sony HDC-4300 camera instead of using a joystick.
A JitaCam has been installed at the 18th hole to provide shot tracing of tee shots on the final hole.
Also getting a production lift is the 18th hole, whose tee shot can leave golfers either in the lake if they hit too far left or in the rough and under trees if they hit too far right. A 25-ft.-high JitaCam overlooking the 18th tee has been added to make it easier for talent and viewers to get a sense of where the shot is headed.
We're mounting the JitaCam right to the existing camera tower that has been a good initiative with the PGA TOUR, adds Caputo.
Another iconic hole - the par-5, 558-yard 11th hole - will be host to the Player Walk and Talks, when a player dons Airpods to chat with NBC's on-air talent. The 11th hole is home to some of the more interesting shot-making decisions on tour, so the conversations promise deeper insight.
Aerial coverage at the PLAYERS features both a live drone (provided by Sky Reality) and a fixed-wing airplane (Winged Vision). To give fans a closer look at the players, the broadcaster will deploy a shallow-depth-of-field camera on a Steadicam, improving the quality of shots captured as the players walk around the course.
Bridget Cugle, senior manager, remote operations, NBC Sports, has been at the center of efforts with the PGA TOUR (which has taken on many of the below-the-line responsibilities) in the compound, ensuring that everything goes smoothly. So far, all systems are in great shape. Our partnership with the PGA Tour this week has been wonderful, she says.
For Ken Goss, EVP, remote and studio operations, NBC Sports Group, it's great to be back at the PLAYERS with the PGA TOUR: We continue to expand our coverage technically. We are looking forward to a successful week with [PGA TOUR Entertainment VP/Executive Producer] Greg Hopfe and his technical and operational teams here.
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Live From THE PLAYERS Championship: NBC Sports Expand TrackMan; JitaCam Enhances Coverage A production team of 285 is onsite wielding an arsenal of 65 cameras By Ken Kerschbaumer 
