Live From US Open 2022: USTA Offers Seamless In-Venue Experience Across Sprawling Campus Partners like Van Wagner, Creative Technology, SMT are key to the process By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor Friday, September 2, 2022 - 10:59 am
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The lights of Broadway don't shine any brighter than those at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center during the US Open. For fans attending the two-week spectacle in Flushing, NY, the United States Tennis Association is at the controls of a thrilling in-venue experience with the support of top-of-the-line technology and key partners.
We've been trying to push [the envelope] as far as we can, says Nicole Munroe, director, pro tennis marketing and content, USTA. We want to create content that elevates the experience for our fans not only in the stadium but also at home.
Inside the Tech: LED Displays Cover Multiple Venues, Extensive Campus The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is an expansive complex covering 46.5 acres of prime space in the NYC borough of Queens. Headlined by two premier venues - Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium - the grounds also feature the smaller Grandstand and standalone courts where men's, women's and doubles action takes place. Outside these venues are concession stands, fan activations, and other points of interest for fans milling about.
Four fascia displays drive dynamic content in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Each of the primary venues has its own set of LED displays. Louis Armstrong has two main videoboards to display content to the spectators. Within Arthur Ashe, videoboards are located in the north, south, east, and west sections. Closer to the court, the USTA has installed smaller screens perpendicular to the net for critical timing information, such as the serve clock and medical timeouts. The Grandstand features two LED videoboards.
In both Louis Armstrong and Arthur Ashe are multiple fascia boards for sponsorship messaging and dynamic displays to introduce the players and set the stage with dramatic images of New York City. Arthur Ashe is equipped with four separate fascia displays: the two smaller ones are dedicated to closed captioning and positioned along the length of the court; positioned behind each player, the main displays drive the creative elements being played. The systems comprise 14 million pixels and are powered by an eight dual-channel Ross XPression Tessera SE, two XPression Tessera Master Systems, and a Ross Ultrix 64 64 router with quad link to 12G GearBoxing. Louis Armstrong features a similar fascia display behind each baseline.
Creative Technology has supplied smaller screens for information like the serve clock and medical timeouts.
From a video perspective, the three main stadiums - Louis Armstrong, Arthur Ashe, and Grandstand - are covered by two main hard cameras and wireless RF cameras. The videoboard content is also supplemented by footage from the ESPN world feed.
Outside the venues, fans are kept up to date on the day's results through video displays at certain points around the grounds. The main fixtures are the LED display in the South Plaza, an octagonal ribbon board over the gift shop between Louis Armstrong and Arthur Ashe, and a screen in both the food court and the building reserved for Cadillac, the tournament's title sponsor.
Inside the Tech: Creative Technology Displays, Van Wagner Execution The LED displays wow the spectators in Queens every day, but, when something goes wrong, the crew of Creative Technology is on hand to fix any problem. The main provider of the videoboards and fascia displays has a team onsite to troubleshoot and reconfigure visible issues.
Louis Armstrong Stadium houses two main videoboards and two fascia displays.
The Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment (VWSE) team runs the operation from the three-year-old control room at Louis Armstrong Stadium, which houses a Ross Carbonite Black switcher for Louis Armstrong, a Ross Carbonite Plus switcher for Grandstand, a 12-channel EVS replay server, RTS intercom for in-house comms, and a 180 216 Miranda NVision router. Led by VWSE Director, Technical Operations, Nate McCoart and working closely with Munroe, the team implements content for the main videoboards and visuals on the fascia displays.
Having debuted in 2019, the fascias are run with a strict protocol on timing. During our first year, says Munroe, we limited our animations to when we were off the air. We started out with a 15-second buffer on each side [of the break] to make sure that nothing was getting shown [on the broadcast].
Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment runs the video displays from the control room in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Now, after several years of testing, the production team is using the boards to fulfill sponsorship needs during the tournament. During changeovers, she adds, we're meeting all of our contractual obligations with partner signage. We also have brand messaging that we're running not only for the US Open but for USTA.
Queen of Queens': Videoboard Content Honors Serena's Potential Swan Song If this is Serena Williams's last dance on the main stage in the Big Apple, the 23-time Grand Slam winner is adding to the memories with more highlights and a stellar upset of No. 2 Anett Kontaveit in primetime on Wednesday night. During Williams's first two scheduled matches, the USTA and ESPN teamed up to push out a pair of features to honor her legacy to the sport and her dominance of the US Open. Planning for the two spots began less than three weeks before the beginning of the competition.
USTA's Nicole Munroe communicates with the control room from her office via RTS intercom.
Once her Vogue article came out, says Munroe, it was all hands on deck, and we needed to figure out how we wer
