NBA Travels to Abu Dhabi for Third Straight Year of Preseason Basketball League supplies English commentary for two games remotely from Secaucus, NJ By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor Monday, October 7, 2024 - 2:26 pm
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In what has become a yearly tradition, the NBA headed overseas to the capital of the United Arab Emirates for a couple of preseason matchups between the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets on Friday, Oct. 4 and Sunday, Oct. 6. Despite the long hours of travel, the exhibition games represented two poignant facts: the league still has a global reach beyond the U.S., and the broadcasts offered its production and operations teams an opportunity to get ready for the 2024-25 season.
The NBA's international games provided memorable experiences to the crews who play a role in producing and delivering the excitement of these games to fans around the world, says Francesca Martinelli, SVP, broadcast operations and events, NBA.
In Abu Dhabi: NBA Staffers Adjust to Time Change, Hire Local Crew Members After celebrating a league-leading 18th championship over the summer, the Boston Celtics began their title defense on foreign soil. Similarly, the NBA shook off the offseason rust by producing two games thousands of miles from home.
For the third straight season, the NBA traveled to Abu Dhabi for two games between the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets at Etihad Arena.
It was an ambitious decision to begin this year's campaign of productions with a pair of international games, and the challenges were plentiful: the broadcast department had to decide who would make the trip, how they would adjust to the eight-hour time difference, and how they would pull off the broadcasts. To resolve the second issue, the crew that was to be onsite flew out earlier enough to get acclimated to tip-off times typically not seen in the U.S.: 6 p.m. and 4 p.m. local time.
The time difference certainly poses some challenges, particularly when troubleshooting unexpected issues, says Martinelli. We have a long history of hosting games internationally, and our extensive pre-planning process ensured smooth execution.
To resolve that first issue, the league sent a trio of its best to lead the onsite operation: Senior Manager, Broadcast Operations, Mary Mak; AVP, Broadcast Systems Engineering/Support Lead Eb Tesfalidet; and, from NBA Broadcast Engineering, Taki Kohiyama. For additional support, the NBA recruited local talent to round out the team of experts that would be needed for the two-day event.
We had to hire several local vendors for various positions, including producers, camera operators, and graphic operators, adds Martinelli. Pro TV, which produced the NBA Abu Dhabi games in 2022 and 2023, as well as the USA Basketball exhibition games in the UAE this summer, once again handled local production.
World-Feed Model: Video Feeds Were Sent to Secaucus, Redirected to NBC Sports Boston The most sophisticated aspect of the show was deploying a world-feed style of production. Since the Celtics were technically playing a home game, NBC Sports Boston was the league's main TV partner. Emanating from Etihad Arena, the host venue on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island, primary video feeds were sent nearly 7,000 miles to league headquarters in Secaucus, NJ, via Eurovision satellite. Backup feeds were transported via SRT as a redundancy. Once the feeds arrived in New Jersey, the NBA redirected clean, camera, and clock feeds to NBC Sports Boston with the help of high-speed arena-network (HSAN) connections. The HSAN links were crucial, allowing the home regional sports network to remotely produce the games.
As the Celtics' home regional sports network, NBC Sports Boston remotely produced each broadcast via video feeds sent from NBA headquarters in Secaucus, NJ.
NBC Sports Boston had sideline reporter Abby Chin at the game and used LiveU to transmit her signal, says Martinelli. The NBA also delivered the game to Ball Arena in Denver for radio broadcast via HSAN.
In addition, English commentary and virtual signage were handled in Secaucus. With much of the league's efforts focused on transmission, the production simplified video acquisition, deploying nine cameras and three EVS replay servers to capture the action. U.S.-based viewers outside the Boston market were able to view the game on NBA League Pass, but, outside the States, the league also hosted two international broadcast partners at the venue for live onsite commentary.
Relying on Experience: Communication and Planning Allow a Smooth Weekend Producing two games miles from home isn't an audacious new task for the NBA. The league first forayed into Abu Dhabi two years ago, with the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks squaring off in two games in 2022. In 2023, the crowd in Abu Dhabi enjoyed a visit from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks. With three years' experience, the crew applied the lessons from the first two efforts to ensure success of future broadcasts from outside the country.
Effective and diligent communication among all parties, including the team liaising between in-arena operations/production and the local broadcaster, is critical to success, says Martinelli. Every game we produce outside the U.S. - whether in Abu Dhabi or elsewhere around the world - provides new learning opportunities, which makes these events even more exciting.
The Celtics were victorious in both games, including a 107-103 win in Game 1 on Friday, Oct. 4.
International games aside, the broadcasts are becoming an important tool for growing the league's broadcasting plan. Within a constantly innovating and evolving sports-video-production industry, it's critical that the crew is cognizant of the latest trends in production and sharpen their skills whenever possible
