Live From Super Bowl LIX: Inside the 10,000-Sq.-Ft. Tech Center With FOX Sports VP, Field Ops and Engineering, Kevin Callahan Areas in the facility including editing, AR, drone prep, transmission management, and power By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 12:39 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The FOX Sports compound for Super Bowl LIX features a new two-story technical building encompasses about 10,000 sq. ft. of space. Featuring nearly floor-to-ceiling exterior windows, glass doors, and 10-ft. ceilings, it arguably signals a new era in compound office facilities, offering plenty of natural light, proper workstations with power, and other benefits not found in the traditional office trailer.
FOX Sports tapped Infinite Structures to build a two-story technical building for Super Bowl LIX.
The building houses everything from our edits to our video and audio sub-switch to video-transmission management, broadcast communications, and central distribution for the entire compound, says Kevin Callahan, VP, field operations and engineering, FOX Sports. We also have our network-engineering and -architecture team here because every remote these days relies on that network-engineering team for transporting not only video signals but communication files and everything else needed to do a broadcast. That convergence has truly happened at this point: they're as much a part of the team as everybody else.
At the center of the technical facility, which was built by Infinite Structures, are two of FOX Sports' Jewel Event Kits, which made their Super Bowl debut two years ago in Glendale, AZ. The Jewel kit serves as the hub for all incoming video and audio sources and makes them available to the trucks and facilities in the domestic and international compounds (as well as at the FOX Pico facility in Los Angeles).
The core Jewel technology has changed little since the flypack was first built for the 2022 World Cup. In New Orleans, one operates as an IBC and distribution point; the other handles full remote studio production needs.
The equipment remains the same as when they were first built, notes Callahan. We've been very happy with the equipment choices we've made. The Calrec IP Hydra cores, Arista switches, EVS Cerebrum, TAG multiviewers, Ross switchers and Ultrix routers, Calrec audio console, and Grass Valley production switchers are still best of breed and still doing the jobs we need them to do.
The FOX Jewel Event Kit plays a big role in connecting the compound and more at Super Bowl LIX.
The Jewel kits not only make signal management and access easier but also have some additional features making it easier to create a viewing room at a hotel or support requests from any FOX entity. Says Callahan, They can make our shows bigger but also do it economically.
This year, the Jewel Event Kit has some company in the kit world: FOX Sports' new Broadcast Remote IP Studio Kit (BRISK). Deployed at the Bourbon Street studio operation, the small unit allows video, audio, and data signals to be sent from Bourbon Street to the compound as well as to FOX Sports' Pico broadcast facility.
It has multiple paths and multiple redundancies built into it, Callahan explains. It's the first time that we really have cameras in a Home Run Production kit. It was created with remote shows in mind, where we may need to set up quickly. Bringing mobile units and a larger system like the FOX Jewel Event system in isn't always practical. BRISK, on the other hand, is nimbler and can be carried up a flight of stairs [such as at the Krazy Korner bar on Bourbon Street]. If we build a couple of them, they can hopscotch around different venues and still have the same network architecture and technology.
The BRISK unit comprises camera-control units, multiviewers, video-shading components, and a Calrec Hydra core as well as an audio frame. Explains Callahan, It's all being controlled with an RP1 here at the stadium or in Los Angeles to allow remote IFB mixing that needs to occur in order to have those remote studio shows happen.
Without it, he adds, something like Super Bowl LIX Pregame studio show on Bourbon Street would have been impossible. We are at a point with the shows now where productions can get bigger but we don't need to have the technology infrastructure get bigger. At Super Bowl LIV in Miami, we were sending all the signals from a mobile unit at South Beach to the production truck in the stadium. On Bourbon Street, there's no room to put a mobile unit on the street. We had to fit everything into that second floor of Krazy Korner, and this was the best way to do it.
Areas Are Dedicated to Different Functions The technical building houses several areas supporting the needs of the production trucks across the compound as well as of the team in Pico. For example, four Adobe Premier edit bays, two After Effects edit bays, and media management are connected to the Los Angeles facility.
Most of the edits are happening in Los Angeles, notes Callahan., but we do have these four edit stations because it is a collaborative process. This allows producers here to collaborate with the editor in person.
A broadcast comms area ensures users on either the RTS or Riedel intercom systems can communicate with each other seamlessly.
Located next to the Jewel Event Kit area, transmission management oversees all inbound and outbound feeds, ensuring that they are all routed to the right place. They make sure everything is in time and everything is correct, he says. We have close to 150 paths, inbound and outbound, between camera isos used for edit in Los Angeles or just for the watch parties, hotel remotes, all sorts of things like that.
The broadcast-comms area houses two systems from two manufacturers: RTS in
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
15/07/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a big deal for DAZN, which has distribution rights in three markets: Italy, Spain, and Japan. Each requires a different editorial app...
15/07/2026
As sports-media organizations manage rapidly growing content libraries and incre...
15/07/2026
HBS director of digital Johannes Franken talks SVG Europe through the operation built to serve FIFA World Cup 2026 rights holders remotely from Stratford, east ...
15/07/2026
IBC has unveiled the conference program for IBC2026, with this year's event ...
15/07/2026
Software-defined wideband RF platform supports 96-kHz monitoring, streamlined fr...
15/07/2026
New AI-powered module enables broadcasters and content owners to extract dialogu...
15/07/2026
Weeklong gathering at EBU headquarters will test new IPMX capabilities and expand certified product ecosystem...
15/07/2026
Force Tech has announced the appointment of Bryan Adams, CTS, as Vice President of Integration. Adams will oversee AV and broadcast integration project delivery...
15/07/2026
USA Sports has announced an exclusive English-language agreement with the Bundes...
15/07/2026
ITV Sport's FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage has been produced from one of the m...
15/07/2026
Program will provide professional camera kits, training, and technical support to participating local newsrooms...
15/07/2026
San Francisco church becomes first U.S. deployment of the 2 M/E production switcher...
15/07/2026
Former ESPN and NFL Network executive to advise startup league on media, distribution, technology, and fan engagement...
15/07/2026
The Houston-based RSN is the live-game home of the Astros and Rockets...
15/07/2026
Launched alongside new FreqSoft installer
Designed to bridge the gap between hardware and software, Freqport's FreqInOut FO1 unit provides a simple way ...
15/07/2026
Save up to 55% on software until 23 July 2026
Expressive E have just launched their Summer Offer sale, with discounts of up to 55% now applied across their ...
15/07/2026
Real-time stem-separation tool updated
zplane have recently released a new and improved version of their real-time stem-separation plug-in which they say ma...
15/07/2026
A new benchmark in bass enhancement
Described as a new benchmark in bass enhancement , Baby Audio's latest release has been designed to augment the lo...
15/07/2026
DMC Production's AR 1 and AR 2 units reverse the conventional OB workflow, keeping all production-critical processing at the venue while operators work remo...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
GigaCloud, a leading Ukrainian cloud service provider, and Cubbit, the first geo-distributed cloud storage enabler, today announced a new Business Alliance Part...
15/07/2026
SMPTE, the global society for media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has announced the launch of the SMPTE 110th Anniversary Campaign, a fundraising...
15/07/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, unveils the new StudioComm Model 762 Stereo Level Control, ...
15/07/2026
COW Jobs: Producer, Virtual Events - Hybrid, Full Time, Salaried
Brie Clayton July 15, 2026
0 Comments
Producer, Virtual Events (Hybrid | Full-time | ...
15/07/2026
Brazilian media organization builds nationwide CDN with Broadpeak's high-performance software for low-latency streaming and new content distribution service...
15/07/2026
DHD announces a new utility designed to increase the efficiency of its audio mixing systems during initial installation and subsequent configuration.
Anyone w...
15/07/2026
BCNEXXT Brings Next-Generation Vipe to IBC2026, Breaking the 1:1 Channel-to-Server Ratio New innovations liberate broadcasters from legacy playout infrastructur...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Wednesday 15 July 2026
Screeners and press pack now available: Gomorrah: The Or...
15/07/2026
Trinity's Treasures features Ruth Negga, Eleanor McEvoy, and David Norris, a...
15/07/2026
Join geographer Dr Susan Hegarty, Engineer Tim Joyce and Architect Orla Murphy a...
15/07/2026
Home to leading manufacturers, robotics pioneers, infrastructure builders and gaming, of course, Japan is one of the world's centers of AI - building across...
14/07/2026
South end zone videoboard, cloud-based control system will be ready for 2026 football season...
14/07/2026
Redesigned website, enhanced mobile app unify content, ticketing, and personalized fan engagement...
14/07/2026
Agreement spans sponsorship sales, digital monetization, radio production, and new practice facility naming rights...
14/07/2026
Independent league adds 14 regional sports network affiliates, growing distribut...
14/07/2026
New strategy aims to unify competitions, content, fan engagement, and commercial...
14/07/2026
ESPN and Disney+ become exclusive home of PFL events in key international MMA market...
14/07/2026
Gill will oversee engineering, technology, and sports operations across the company's 64 local television stations...
14/07/2026
Submitted by North American Broadcasters Association (NABA)
As broadcasters con...
14/07/2026
Modernized mobile unit combines HOME Apps, mc 56 console, and IP infrastructure ...
14/07/2026
Every match of the 32-team tournament will air across ION and Scripps Sports platforms in English and Spanish...
14/07/2026
FloHockey to stream every game of the annual international tournament under four...
Live From Super Bowl LIX: Inside the 10,000-Sq.-Ft. Tech Center With FOX Sports VP, Field Ops and Engineering, Kevin Callahan Areas in the facility including editing, AR, drone prep, transmission management, and power By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
