Live From World Baseball Classic: Major League Baseball Spans the Globe for Domestic, International In-Venue Productions The league called on Van Wagner for games at Miami's loanDepot Park By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor Tuesday, March 21, 2023 - 9:40 am
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Transcending borders, language barriers, and cultural differences, playing or watching a game of baseball truly is a shared experience. During the World Baseball Classic (WBC), crowds have brought World Cup levels of energy through the waving of flags, the beating of drums, the chanting of songs, and an overwhelming sense of national pride. Major League Baseball's game-presentation crew has been in charge of harnessing that passion into a cohesive run of show at all four participating venues over the past two weeks, and, for play at Miami's loanDepot Park, the league is assisted by Van Wagner to further elevate game-day entertainment.
We were excited about the momentum that we had coming into this tournament after the success of 2017, says Brian O'Gara, VP, events and game presentation, Major League Baseball. Each edition builds off the previous one, and it has become an established event in the calendar that happens every three or four years.
International Workflow: MLB Global Events Takes Charge in Tokyo, Taichung During a normal MLB calendar year, O'Gara and company would be preparing for the upcoming regular season and planning for other jewel events on the schedule, such as the MLB All-Star Game, MLB London Series, and MLB Mexico City Series. This season, game-presentation representatives from all 30 teams and the league have worked together to establish a production plan that would seamlessly integrate and reflect the new pace-of-play rules officially in effect. Adding in a global competition that hasn't been held since before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2017, this offseason and Spring Training were reserved for planning out this two-week period of shows.
We worked with professionals in each of the venues to get ourselves ready [for the competition], says O'Gara. The entire global-events team has pitched in wherever they can on the production of the WBC, and it has been great to work with the crews at the Miami Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the promoters in Taichung and Tokyo.
Bob Becker and Brian O'Gara prior to the Semifinals matchup between Mexico and Japan on March 20
The beauty of the World Baseball Classic is that host venues are located in areas where the sport is engrained in the fabric of their respective societies. In the early rounds, that couldn't be truer for Pool A at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taiwan and for Pool B in the Tokyo Dome. At the latter, MLB Manager, Global Event Experience, Emilie Matson was in Tokyo with the local promoter and its team, who really comprehend what it takes to produce the WBC. At the former, the venue was a bit unfamiliar since the World Baseball Classic hasn't been played there in a decade.
It was the first time we've done this workflow in Taiwan, notes O'Gara. But the energy of the crowds and the results of each of those games were fantastic. We couldn't be happier with how [those] productions went.
A view of the field from the Miami Marlins' control room
Growing the sport and creating an attachment to the game are at the heart of the league's mission for the World Baseball Classic. A look at the list of countries involved reveals a mixture of traditional powerhouses where ties to baseball run deep, including the U.S., Japan, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Korea. A closer look highlights nations where baseball has a small hold on the athletics landscape or is completely new: for example,. Great Britain, Czech Republic, and Italy. Both for nations that have played the game for years and for those just getting started, the WBC is a golden opportunity to highlight the competitiveness and excitement at the root of baseball.
For a kot of the events that we do outside the regular season, it's a priority for us to grow the game globally and reach new audiences, says O'Gara. This is all driven by the passion that these fans have for their countries.
Partying in Miami: Van Wagner, Marlins In-Venue Team Energize Multiple Fanbases For pool play, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Tuesday's Championship between the U.S. and Japan, MLB recruited the services of Van Wagner for in-venue productions in the 305. Executing and excelling in this sector of the industry for such high-profile events as the Super Bowl, NFL Draft, and NCAA Men's Final Four, O'Gara knew right away that Van Wagner was the right team to call for a job that would include production of 10 games in five days.
It has been a tough stretch, says O'Gara, but [President, Productions,] Bob Becker is able to pay attention, read the flow of the game, and understand how these shows should be produced. I couldn't ask for anybody better in that scenario.
EVS replay servers in the production-control room
In a similar situation, O'Gara relied on the creative expertise of San Diego Padres Director, Game Presentation, Shannon Landers for pool play at Chase Field in Phoenix. Leveraging experience working with O'Gara and the MLB game-presentation team for tentpole events like the MLB All-Star Game and the 2020 World Series Bubble at Globe Life Field, as well as the crew led by Arizona Diamondbacks VP, Game Operations and DBTV Productions, Rob Weinheimer, productions in the desert entertained fans before operations consolidated in Miami. For both locations, O'Gara and the league developed Fast Facts sheets to get the crew up to speed between games.
Unlike at other events throughout the year, Becker is without his Van Wagner team in Miami.
