On the Gridiron: Jacksonville Jaguars Reflect on In-Stadium Fans During Week 1, Connecting With Duval' Community Due to safety restrictions, production had only one shot for in-venue content during Media Day By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Monday, September 21, 2020 - 1:10 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Many professional sports have opted for a return to play inside a sanitized bubble. Not the NFL. Without skipping a beat, the league is soldiering on with regular-season games in all 32 stadiums across the country. Similar to our At the Ballpark series, On the Gridiron examines the new routines, habits, and production philosophies of in-venue personnel on any given Thursday, Sunday, or Monday.
Despite 2020's being a whirlwind of a year, it has given NFL organizations a chance to catch up and reignite a relationship with their respective fanbases. Starting even before the season opened, production teams are doing what they can to maintain that vital connection. The Jacksonville Jaguars allowed fans in the stadium for their season opener, which provided the franchise the opportunity to cook up content both inside and outside of the stadium.
MORE ON THE GRIDIRON INTERVIEWS
Without Raucous Crowds, New Orleans Saints Adapt to a Quiet Mercedes-Benz Superdome
We were super-fortunate to be able to have some fans here, says Carlos Caceres, production manager, Jacksonville Jaguars. We were close to the 10,000 mark in attendance, which isn't ideal but definitely better than nothing, so we maintained home-field advantage. We couldn't have asked for a better home opener.
AV Scheme: Select In-Venue Fans Alter Production Plans Caceres instructs running back Chris Thompson during a Media Day photoshoot.
The Jaguars joined the defending-champion Kansas City Chiefs as the only two NFL teams to host fans on opening weekend. Throughout the offseason, facing the possibility of having an in-stadium audience for teams in the state of Florida, the production staff made sure to test out both possibilities for maximum assurance.
While we were waiting some direction, we bought some decibel meters and coordinated with our events team, football operations, and myself in the booth to play the [NFL Films] soundtrack out into the bowl, says Caceres. We were walking around and getting different readings on the main concourse, field level, pool deck, etc., and, before the league mandated [crowd noise], we got to an internal agreement.
This year's Media Day was the team's only chance to have direct access to players for content, including shots of quarterback Gardner Minshew.
At a time when fans in the stands are a rarity, producing an in-venue experience that can be digested by spectators is different from what has become normal over the last couple of months. When local and state government officials gave the Jaguars the green light to let fans inside, they were treated to a traditional, pre-COVID in-venue show.
Philosophically, we determined that, whether we had 5,000 fans, 10,000 fans, or 20,000 fans, we still want to bring the same game-day experience and production value that we're accustomed to, expect of ourselves, and think our fans would want, Caceres says. Everything from kickoff videos to player prompts to our Duval chant. The fans reacted very well to a lot of those elements, and I think the appreciation for that level of experience was there.
Digital Connection: NFL Draft, Offseason Acquisitions, Social Justice Fill Social-Media Feeds For fans who can't make it into the stadium, the production team is making the extra effort to curate material that speaks to topics and issues they care about. As protests and marches have taken to the streets in support of the Black Lives Matter movement against racial injustice, the production team invited all members of the organization to take part in a peaceful gesture of unity outside TIAA Bank Field, which was streamed on social media.
It was a really cool experience and something that the organization supports, says Caceres. Our routine conversations revolve around building diversity, inclusion, community outreach, activism, voting, and social justice. I've been here since 2009, and I don't think we've ever done anything like that. The numbers back us up as well, because we've streamed various things over the years, but, when we streamed the entire march, it was one of the highest-performing live streams that we've done ever. Hopefully, we continue doing more of that.
Prior to the season, the organization's digital outlets updated fans on the newest signings, trades, and other roster moves. As with most teams, the most active days were April 23-25, when Rounds 1-7 unfolded in the first-ever virtual NFL Draft.
One of the franchise's most successful live streams, the player-organized Black Lives Matter march was viewed on the Jaguars' social-media feeds.
The Draft brought the same traditional expectations but within a working-from-home scenario, he says. For example, you usually see inside of the War Room, so we had to install infrastructure in the GM's and coach's house to meet with their scouts for their normal process leading up to and on the night of Draft. We couldn't do a [live and in-person] Draft party, so we did an Instagram Live session with a couple of local influencers and some of our in-house talent.
Another big day for gathering content is the team's annual Media Day. In most years, the event would be packed with representatives of different departments in the organization, but, with safety protocols in place, Caceres and his crew were part of a handful of people permitted access to players in an enclosed setting.
Media Day kept getting pushed back, and we didn't know when players were going to report
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
20/11/2025
Berklee Presents Holiday Extravaganza: Duke Ellingtons The Nutcracker Suite and ...
19/11/2025
Sphere Sound Kicks Up Its Heels at Radio City Music HallUltra-immersive system from the singular Las Vegas venue is also ready for sportsBy Dan Daley, Audio Edi...
19/11/2025
The Future of Stadium and Arena Video Control Rooms: Tech Leaders Talk 4K, IP, a...
19/11/2025
One Year at Intuit Dome: Walking Through the Stunning Arena's Advanced Video...
19/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: IMG's Francois Westcombe Goes Inside IMG's Annual Digital ...
19/11/2025
Inside Brighton & Hove Albion's fan-first media machine By George Bevir
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
Brighton & Hove Albion'...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 1: Kansas Athletics Brings New Production Power to Rebu...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 2: A Pro's Guide to Kansas Athletics' New Video...
19/11/2025
MLB Media Rights Shakeup: NBC Inks Three-Year Deal for Sunday Night Baseball, Pe...
19/11/2025
Rohan Parashuram Kanawade attends the premiere of Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival at Egyptian Theatre on January 26, 2025, in Pa...
19/11/2025
Awards season is heating up, and the International Documentary Association just ...
19/11/2025
Aerojet Rocketdyne President Ken Bedingfield and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders were joined by state and local officials to celebrate the groundbreaking o...
19/11/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
19/11/2025
Calrec gives Phoenix Broadcast Solutions its full support in strategic multi-year enterprise partnership New Singapore OB company invests in Calrec technology f...
19/11/2025
October brings a larger audience in front of TV screens. The cooler autumn weather and the continuation of new programming schedules brought increases in both t...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Vitec has acquired Datapath, a developer of real-time video processing for large-scale video walls, AVoIP content distribution and KVM control in mission-critic...
19/11/2025
NEVADA CITY, Calif. Telestream has introduced ARGUS Version 2.3, which introduces Live Look, a feature that lets operators inspect live and on-demand streams vi...
19/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK Charter Communications, Inc. has announced a major deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that establishes AWS as one of Charters stra...
19/11/2025
TOKYO Atomos has announced a major firmware update that brings integrated camera control to the Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX its new CFexpress-based monitor-recor...
19/11/2025
Berklee's Signature Series Reimagines the Musical and Visual Artistry of Col...
19/11/2025
PlayBox Neo departed the NAB Show New York 2025 on a high note. The company's all-new PlayBox Neo Suite made a splash on the show floor, drawing strong inte...
19/11/2025
AAVBR (American Audio Visual Baton Rouge), a leading full-service event production company serving Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region, has enhanced its product...
19/11/2025
In its mission to deliver live event services combining advanced engineering with a creative approach to captivating live sports and entertainment experiences, ...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK Short-form vertical video has exploded across platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, but a new survey commissioned by Media.net, a provider of c...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK YES Network, the regional sports network home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets, and CAMB.AI have struck a partnership they said will leverage ...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has issued detailed guidance on filings that were disrupted by the government shutdown. While many of those fil...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK The popularity of NFL games is largely responsible for continued seasonal momentum in TV viewership into October (measured Sept. 29-Oct. 26), according...
19/11/2025
DirecTV has announced that its MyFree DirecTV streaming service has added seven new channels. Those include four sports services, NBA FAST, Red Bull TV, DAZN Ri...
19/11/2025
SURREY, U.K. Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has launched Flair Bridge, a compact device that transforms how operators control the company's motion-contr...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission, which is continuing to rapidly ramp up its operations after the end of the federal government shutdown, has se...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Martin Freeman, Jessie Buckley, Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, Eddie the Eagle and ...
19/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz collaborates with Broadcom to enable testing and validation of n...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Innato, starring Imanol Arias and Elena Anaya, arrives on Netf...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Guillermo del Toro Sits Down With Troll 2 Director Roar Uthaug...
19/11/2025
Some projects feel monumental from the moment the first phone call comes in. When BCE, the host broadcaster appointed to coordinate the national coverage, asked...
19/11/2025
November 19 2025, 08:00 (PST) BAY AREA HOST COMMITTEE AND DOLBY PARTNER TO DELIVER IMMERSIVE FAN EXPERIENCES
During the Week of Football's Biggest Game...
19/11/2025
Michael D. Higgins: Ireland's Ninth President features RT Archives footage and interviews across seven decades
Watch Wednesday 19 November at 9:35pm on RT...
19/11/2025
Scripps Research scientists receive $1.1 million to advance AI modeling for HIV vaccine development New AI system helps scientists rapidly pinpoint the most pro...
18/11/2025
Independent media across Central America are operating under intensifying financial pressure, yet there is a clear appetite for models that can sustain both ind...
18/11/2025
NBA Debuts New Comms Infrastructure and Systems for RefereesTwo-phase rollout is intended to improve game flow, enhance officiating accuracyBy Dan Daley, Audio ...
18/11/2025
Platinum White Paper: How Aggreko Delivers Certainty For Broadcasters On The Wor...
18/11/2025
Kiswe Extends DTC Products With Kiswe Core Cloud-Based Tool for Distributing Con...
18/11/2025
Spanish Basketball Federation partners with ScorePlay to power digital transform...
18/11/2025
HBS selects BBright encoders and decoders to connect ST 2110 live production wor...
18/11/2025
Ashes to Ashes: Inside TNT Sports' hybrid and maverick' production plan...
18/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Mimi Fotopoulos, Director, Talent and Production Operations, Tenn...
On the Gridiron: Jacksonville Jaguars Reflect on In-Stadium Fans During Week 1, Connecting With Duval' Community Due to safety restrictions, production had only one shot for in-venue content during Media Day By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
