ESPN Doubles Up Production Efforts for MLB in Omaha The network is keeping a majority of the same staff for the College World Series By Kristian Hernandez, Assistant Editor
Friday, June 14, 2019 - 1:05 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The world of sports gained two historic moments last night. As Toronto captured its (and Canada's) first NBA title, MLB placed its trademark on Omaha, NE's TD Ameritrade Park before the College World Series begins tomorrow. ESPN broadcast the first major-league game in the state of Nebraska with the same crew that is producing college baseball's crown-jewel event.
From a remote-operations perspective, it just made perfect sense. Early on in discussions with production and the College World Series management/ops team, as well as the timing and nature of the event, it was clear that the MLB game would mesh very nicely with the set schedule, says Paul Horrell, remote operations manager, MLB, ESPN. For that reason, we looked to adjust the truck and crew schedule to accommodate the MLB game needs while minimizing impact to the College World Series prep. Our College World Series remote-operations team members that were already assigned [to the tournament] took the lead throughout.
Two-in-One: Meshing a Pair of Productions
With two major events clashing, ESPN has deployed nearly 150 onsite staffers to facilitate game coverage and studio programming. The network needed to bolster their infrastructure in order to accommodate two productions in a short-time.
With the synergy between having a regular-season MLB game and the Men's College World Series in the same venue just days apart, we have been able to add a few extra facilities to the standard MLB broadcasts, says Dick Mullen, operations manager, ESPN. We'll be using NEP ND7 for both events at TD Ameritrade, with over 30 cameras utilized in the broadcasts.
Comprising more than two dozen cameras, the complement includes a Sony HDC-4800 with HFR and super-slow-motion at 960 fps. On the audio side, ESPN placed an on-field mic on Kansas City Royals lead-off hitter and right fielder Whit Merrifield. With the venue being only a 3 -hour drive from Kaufmann Stadium in Missouri, a wave of Royals fans behind the outfield wall had some fun with their fan favorite.
.@WhitMerrifield: man of the people.
(MLB x @GEICO) pic.twitter.com/EuqlExtobC
MLB (@MLB) June 14, 2019
The Bristol Connection: ESPN HQ Supplies File Transfer
With 1,423 miles between Bristol, CT, and the onsite compound, ESPN leveraged a file-transfer system that bridged the distance.
With [NEP's] ND7, we had a full REMNAS [remote near-access storage] file-transfer system, says Horrell. We also arranged for fiber connectivity this year for both the MLB game and the College World Series.
The studio was also a reliable source during the first couple of innings. During a brief truck outage, ESPN made a quick adjustment by displaying whip-around coverage of other MLB games in progress. With the help of the TD Ameritrade Park staff, ESPN used the feeds of the in-venue videoboard cameras and provided audio commentary via in-studio talent. After the truck regained power, the on-air broadcast continued as normal.
No one likes when mechanical failures happen, and we regret we went off the air, says NEP U.S. President Glen Levine. I'm really proud that our field- and engineering-support staff immediately jumped on the problem and worked together to bypass the failed regulator to recover and get us back on the air as quickly as we could.
For the broadcast, Horrell and his team tapped a graphics setup that has become customary for all MLB on ESPN productions.
Specifically for the MLB game, we implemented our GREMI workflow, he says. [In addition,] we had Viz Graphics and EVS operators in Bristol integrated with the truck.
The compound hosted a handful of onsite technicians and gear that handled the GREMI (graphics remote integration) aspect of the broadcast.
Lastly, a Bristol, CT, staple, Baseball Tonight, traveled to Nebraska to provide on-field studio programming during the pre/postgame.
Bringing MLB to New Frontiers
The hometown Royals' 7-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers isn't ESPN's only project with the MLB. As the league strengthens its relationships with entities like the NCAA, ESPN is the backbone of such operations.
With the first-ever MLB game in Nebraska, especially in concert with the College World Series, it generates a whole new experience. [It's] very similar to the MLB Little League Classic in Williamsport, PA, that MLB has introduced with Little League and ESPN in recent years, says Horrell. These efforts serve to capture the nature of the sport and [also] this particular event.
North America Stories
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
11/06/2026
Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...
11/06/2026
Telemundo will launch its FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage on Thursday, June 11 with...
11/06/2026
FuboTV Inc. has announced a distribution agreement with NBCUniversal. Fubo customers can now stream Telemundo and Universo, with NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBC...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced its in-app features for FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage in Spain...
11/06/2026
Roblox has released the 2026 Roblox Digital Expression Report: Wave 4 - Sports D...
11/06/2026
FIFA has unveiled DNA, the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Anthem, performed by A...
11/06/2026
ESPN will provide English- and Spanish-language news and information coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026 across its U.S. media platforms from June 11 through July 1...
11/06/2026
The latest product of the outstanding RIT Sports Network program, this recent grad from Long Island is carving out a promising path in broadcast engineering
In...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced a multi-year agreement to make DSPORTS channels available to ...
ESPN Doubles Up Production Efforts for MLB in Omaha The network is keeping a majority of the same staff for the College World Series By Kristian Hernandez, Assistant Editor 
