Fox Sports North Delivers Its Super Bowl' With 12th Annual Hockey Day Minnesota RSN rolls out fun, robust tech in St. Cloud for special day of amateur and pro programming By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Tuesday, January 23, 2018 - 3:19 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
In America, there are few great sports romances. Texas has football. Indiana has basketball. Minnesota has hockey. This past Saturday, Fox Sports North, the regional sports network based in Minneapolis, wrote its annual love letter to the game its fans adore.
At Hockey Day Minnesota in St. Cloud, Fox Sports North brought a full-fledged production compound, an impressive camera complement, and its onsite studio desk, which was hosted pregame by analyst Tom Chorske (left) and host Tom Hanneman.
The 12th-annual Hockey Day Minnesota brought more than 14 straight hours of live hockey programming to FS North's air and a picture-postcard scene on the banks of Lake George in St. Cloud, where three outdoor games and a public village - where the community came in droves to enjoy community events, food trucks, fire pits, and much more - were the big stars.
On the production end, it was truly all hands on deck from both a personnel and a technological standpoint for the RSN. The day delivered a live VR production, live linear and streaming broadcasts of five games (including three at the outdoor rink in St. Cloud), a Minnesota Wild game at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul), and a load of studio programming.
It's an incredibly busy time for us, but this is our Super Bowl, says Mike Dimond, GM, Fox Sports North. It's amazing to see how what we do with the television piece has become only a part of what this whole event is about. The local organizing committees, what they have done here, is incredible.
Focusing on the onsite set at Lake George in St. Cloud, Fox Sports North rolled up a full-fledged production compound with two Mobile TV Group 53-ft. expando units, an ARTECK satellite-uplink truck, and an office trailer (from which LiveLike operated the VR production). Covering the ice were 19 total cameras, including a pair of jibs, two RF cameras (one a M VI on a SteadiCam affixed to a camera operator on ice skates), and a drone.
Anybody in production will tell you that the toys can make things special, says Tony Tortorici, executive producer, Fox Sports North. In this case, that's for certain.
A drone was successfully used for the first time at Hockey Day Minnesota, and it delivered gorgeous aerial images of the scene in St. Cloud.
At last year's Hockey Day, in Stillwater, the network unsuccessfully attempted to use a drone, Tortorici adds. This time around, however, it was a critical part of the production, giving viewers spectacular views of the beautiful scene at Lake George.
It's like having a blimp here, he says. It's incredible. I love it because it shows the bigness and puts the event on a great scale.
To help the compound operate to its highest capacity, Fox Sports North also partnered with the city of St. Cloud to establish a Gigabit internet connection. In addition, the network set up an IP connection to its studios in Downtown Minneapolis. The IP-based video circuit opened up use of five Avid edit suites at the office, from which editors using an Adtec encoder and Sixi software were able to deliver content directly into the trucks onsite.
A crew of 68 technical personnel made the event possible. The front bench inside a Mobile TV Group truck was anchored by director Matt Gangl (center).
We have all of the production capabilities of our office [in Minneapolis] at our disposal here, notes Bob Rohde, director, operations, Fox Sports North. It's huge. We used to have to set up an extra trailer with Avid [editing systems]. Now those editors can set up at the office and do their work there.
A technical crew 68 people strong was drawn not only from the Fox Sports North ranks but also from neighboring Fox Sports Wisconsin and other members of the Fox Sports family. St. Cloud proved a fitting locale for the event since 28 members of that crew have direct ties to St. Cloud State University as alumni or current students. In fact, the men's college game between St. Cloud State and Minnesota State Mankato was produced entirely by students and St. Cloud's immensely talented Husky Productions.
We are blessed with our crew, says Tortorici. We have a lot of people, on the production side for sure, who have been here from the start and worked all 12 [Hockey Days]. The pride that they have in it is inspiring. So much goes into it, but there are so many nice touches and a plan for just about everything. The time and effort that goes into it is top quality. This is the ultimate test for a [RSN].
MORE: Fox Sports North Streams Live VR Content From Hockey Day Minnesota
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
16/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: FUJIFILM Execs on GFX ETERNA 55 Camera, Importance of Shallow-Dept...
16/10/2025
Squash's Most Ambitious Broadcast Production To Be Deployed at Comcast Busin...
16/10/2025
Main Street Sports Group Inks Deal With Omaha Productions, Launches Original-Con...
16/10/2025
A Historic Precursor? FIFA, HBS, DAZN Offer an Inside Look at Production of FIFA...
16/10/2025
Prime Video Offers Sneak Peak at New NBA on Prime StudioThe massive 13,000-sq-ft, two-story studio features a LED regulation half court and hoopBy Jason Dachman...
16/10/2025
SVG Remote Production Forum Draws Record Crowd for Visit to PGA TOUR Studios, De...
16/10/2025
BitFire's Ben Grafchik on How Growing Cloud Workflows Are Impacting the Live...
16/10/2025
AI technology is advancing quickly, bringing both new creative possibilities and...
16/10/2025
In 2017, Imani Ellis launched CultureCon, a conference that's become a must-attend event for more than 10,000 diverse creatives and Black professionals to c...
16/10/2025
It might still be a little early to break out the tinsel and mistletoe, but Spotify's already queuing up some holiday magic. This year's Spotify Singles...
16/10/2025
Earlier this year, our in-house publishing imprint, Spotify Audiobooks, put out ...
16/10/2025
VAMPIRE has been integrated onto GM Defenses Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV), providing a mobile solution to effectively and affordably counter small drone threat...
16/10/2025
The AgilePod mounted on the host aircraft....
16/10/2025
60% say infotainment systems are a critical purchasing or leasing consideration,...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK The Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its 2025 Year-End Giving Campaign, which seeks to raise donations from tax-deductible personal and ...
16/10/2025
Roku has added several new features to its user interface and operating system meant to make it easier to discover and personalize content, the company said....
16/10/2025
NEW YORK CNN has announced that its All Access subscription tier will launch in the U.S. on Oct. 28, providing audiences with a centralized destination for CNN&...
16/10/2025
Student Spotlight: Alan Villanueva The graduate student and saxophonist, who performed on Natalia Lafourcades Latin Grammy-nominated Live at Carnegie Hall alb...
16/10/2025
The XR Sports Alliance (XRSA) has announced the third cohort of members. The new members include Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), the Vegas Golden Kni...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK The Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its 2025 Year-End Giving Campaign which seeks to raise donations from tax-deductible personal and c...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK Australia's Nine Network and the NHL today announced a media partnership that will bring the world's premier professional ice hockey league to ...
16/10/2025
Parks Associates has released new data showing that nearly half (45%) of U.S. internet homes watch free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services and 89% of U.S...
16/10/2025
TROY, Mich. -New data from J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Residential Internet Service Provider Study shows that residential wireless internet providers are growing...
16/10/2025
TV's most charming detective drama * Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investi...
16/10/2025
Back to All News
Thailand's Legendary Outlaw Returns: Tee Yai: Born to be ...
16/10/2025
Back to All News
Christmas Is Just Around The Corner: Home For Christmas Season...
16/10/2025
Back to All News
Trist n Ulloa Stars in El crimen de Pazos, the New Netflix Ser...
16/10/2025
ABS Completes Redomiciliation to Dubai Development Authority as Part of Strategi...
16/10/2025
This Saturday October 18 Katja Mia will burst onto the radio airwaves for the first time as she joins 2FM. Katja will be standing in for Bl thnaid Treacy on Sat...
16/10/2025
This October, RT is delighted to support Wexford Festival Opera, Babor International Arts Festival for Children, Open House Dublin and 36 other arts and cultu...
16/10/2025
GeForce NOW is more than just a platform to stream fresh games every week - it offers celebrations for the gamers who make it epic, with member rewards to sweet...
15/10/2025
Across the world, early-career reporters are interrogating systems that shape daily life, from mortuaries and classrooms to the corridors of legal education and...
15/10/2025
St. Louis Blues Pay Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne in New Pregame Open VideoThe NHL franchise worked with production firms 2WEI and 4th Floor CreativeBy Mark J Burns,...
15/10/2025
Cobalt Digital, G3DVu, Proxima Vision, and Telos Alliance Renew Premier Sponsors...
15/10/2025
By Paige Bethmann
Before my grandmother passed away in 2019, I went to visit her in the hospital where she'd been for a few weeks. When I arrived, the nurs...
15/10/2025
Two years ago, Spotify set out to grow the entire publishing industry by making ...
15/10/2025
People turn to DJ for a listening experience that feels personal, dynamic, and j...
15/10/2025
Las personas recurren a DJ para vivir una experiencia de escucha personal, din m...
15/10/2025
Rock legend Bruce Springsteen and luminary actor Jeremy Allen White came togethe...
15/10/2025
At Spotify, we're all about supporting rising talent and helping them connec...
15/10/2025
New SBS Documentary Series THE CANCER KILLERS Premieres 4 November on SBS & SBS ...
15/10/2025
SBS celebrates the Festivals of Lights with bold, illuminating stories across th...
15/10/2025
One of humanity's most profound questions continues: Is there any place in our galaxy suitable for life beyond Earth? NASA intends to find out, with the hel...
15/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
15/10/2025
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage software for the AI era, today announced the advancement of its comprehensive AI ecosystem certification pro...
15/10/2025
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today unveiled key highlights of the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, scheduled for Feb. 15 19 at the Westin Rancho Mirage Go...
15/10/2025
At NAB Show New York 2025 (Stand 244), Interra Systems will showcase the future of media QC, monitoring, and captioning, highlighting its award-winning, AI- and...
15/10/2025
Grass Valley today announced that RMC BFM, part of the CMA-CGM Group and France's third-largest private media group, has chosen Grass Valley's productio...
Fox Sports North Delivers Its Super Bowl' With 12th Annual Hockey Day Minnesota RSN rolls out fun, robust tech in St. Cloud for special day of amateur and pro programming By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
