Road Warriors 2018, Part 1: The Top Sports-Production Highlights of the Year A review of some of the biggest events on the sports-production calendar By SVG Staff
Monday, December 24, 2018 - 12:48 pm
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2018 was one of the most eventful years for sports production in recent memory, with the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and 2018 FIFA World Cup capturing the nation's attention over the summer and annual events like the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, Super Bowl, NFL Draft, and others breaking production records and test-driving new technologies and workflows. As if there weren't enough going on stateside, this year's Road Warriors features an expanded look at what went on across the Atlantic. Here is Part 1 of SVG's a look at some of the sports-production highlights from the past year (CLICK HERE for Part 2).
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
January 8
The CFP National Championship Game on ESPN featured the biggest production ever for a bowl game, thanks to the use of 125 cameras (between game, studio, and MegaCast coverage) and a game production coming out of nine Game Creek Video remote-production units. Camera and audio developments brought the viewer closer than ever to Alabama's come-from-behind OT victory over Georgia.
The personal highlight is seeing it all come together, said John LaChance, director, remote production operations, ESPN, during the lead-up to the massive effort, which capped the 2017 college-football season. To see the new angles, perspectives, and gadgets we are introducing and watch those get integrated from paper to plan to [execution] gives us a great sense of pride. And it's a partnership between those technicians, vendors, and production personnel.
ESPN deployed 125 cameras to capture the CFP National Championship action at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
A new element in the production was a small RF camera that 3G Wireless installed in each of the four down markers on each side of the field. It had been tested at the Celebration Bowl and the Sugar Bowl.
The cameras are on the top side of the first-and-10 markers and will offer viewers angles they have not seen in the past, LaChance explained. It's a perspective right from the sideline, and they can see whether a player made the first down.
Also new were two hat cams: cameras mounted in the caps of two of the folks who moved the chains up and down the field. According to LaChance, the cameras did not require bodypacks, making them lighter and less obtrusive when worn by officials on the move.
The eight pylon cams also got a lift, with a microphone placed in the pylon at each corner of the end zones. They offered a total of 28 angles of video coverage.
The specialty cameras complemented the 51 other cameras deployed for game coverage, primarily a mix of Sony HDC-4300, HDC-2500, and HDC-4800 cameras coupled with Canon lenses, including two 95X super-telephotos.
Nine Game Creek mobile production units and support vehicles were onsite: Peacock A and B at the core of the game production, Nitro A and B handling GameDay and SportsCenter needs, Maverick overseeing the MegaCast, Webby on hand for the SEC Network, and Edit 2 and 3 supporting the game and MegaCast. BSI was onsite for RF needs (13 cameras), and PSSI provided satellite-uplink facilities.
LaChance expressed his pride in the work done by everyone involved in getting the production facilities up and running in five days.
I think we had a great season for ESPN and the games that aired on ABC, he said. We had some great finishes, and to be around college football when you are a college-football fan makes the season fly by. But it was a great season, and that is testament to some great technicians, staff, personnel, and vendors who made it come together and great for the folks at home. - Ken Kerschbaumer and Brandon Costa
CLICK HERE for SVG's full CFP National Championship Game coverage.
SUPER BOWL LII
U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis
February 4
Each year, the Super Bowl broadcaster looks to up the technological ante at America's highest-profile sports event. For Super Bowl LII, to put it simply, NBC's overall presence in the Twin Cities was mind-blowing. And not to be forgotten: just five days after the Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl title in franchise history, the Peacock embarked on an even larger-scale production in Korea with the Opening Ceremony at the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Inside NEP ND1's A unit, which served as the core of NBC's Super Bowl LII game production in Minneapolis.
This has been 2 years of planning, and we have meticulously walked through every aspect technically and operationally, said Ken Goss, SVP, remote operations and production planning, NBC Sports Group, prior to the game.
In terms of the game production, camera levels were (not surprisingly) at an all-time high. The 73-camera complement (featuring primarily Canon lenses) included 20 miniature cameras for the Admiral Video PylonCam system added to a bevy of 4K and high-speed systems: four Sony HDC-4800 4K robos, three HDC-4300's in 4K mode, four HDC-4300's running at 4X slo-mo, another seven HDC-4300's running at 6X slo-mo, and two more HDC-4300's at 8X slo-mo.
NBC once again deployed two SkyCam systems - a low and a high - as it did for selected games in the second half of the season on Sunday Night Football and Thursday Night Football. The camera complement also comprised nearly a dozen robos (provided by Fletcher), including a pair of new positions: an HDC-4800 overlooking the entirety of each end zone to capture close plays along the side or back lines.
With 14 mobile units onsite, NBC Sports was forced to expand its compound beyond the
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Road Warriors 2018, Part 1: The Top Sports-Production Highlights of the Year A review of some of the biggest events on the sports-production calendar By SVG Staff 
