Feld Entertainment Brings Back Monster Energy AMA Supercross With Focus on Crew Safety NBC Sports' production partner stringently followed CDC guidelines By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Wednesday, June 3, 2020 - 10:40 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
As U.S. sports make a gradual comeback from the depths of the coronavirus, motorsports is leading the return to live event production. Along with MotoAmerica Superbike, NBC Sports' presentation of Monster Energy AMA Supercross returned this past Sunday in Salt Lake City's Rice-Eccles Stadium. For Feld Entertainment, the network's production partner, putting on a great broadcast was an objective, but the well-being of all onsite crew members was of utmost importance.
All credentialed personnel were required to socially distance and adhere to CDC-issued guidelines.
It's a new environment and a new challenge for all of us, says Dave Prater, senior director, operations, two wheel, Feld Entertainment, but our Supercross group within Feld Entertainment was really cooperative. The organization of everyone from the [Utah] governor's office and the state and local health departments to the race teams and athletes went really well.
The Necessary Steps: Testing, Temperature Checks 48 Hours Before Race Day
To establish a safe environment, Prater and his team deemed it necessary to establish a health infrastructure with thorough testing prior to the day of the race.
Our plan was entailed within two documents that were sent to everyone involved, he says. All of the race teams, athletes, and staff signed a health and safety commitment that you were committing to follow; the other [document] was a health questionnaire. Once they arrived in Utah, everyone was tested for COVID-19, waited 48 hours for the results, and then we got to work.
Like Feld Entertainment, NBC Sports practiced social distancing with post-race interviews conducted from 6 ft. away.
With nearly 700 credentialed personnel for last weekend's effort, which is about 50% of the crew for a normal event, these procedures ensured that the health of all involved wouldn't be compromised. After the initial testing phase, medical examinations and temperature checks continued to be administered.
We set up a secure perimeter around the pits as well as the stadium, and, when you entered the perimeter every day, your temperature was taken, says Prater. A face mask was required at all times. We let everybody know and said, Look, there's obviously going to be less people, so you're going to be asked to, in some cases, play multiple roles,' and everybody pulled together.
Proceed With Caution: Onsite Protocols Include Distancing, Sanitization Equipment
Inside the home of football at the University of Utah, athletes zoomed across a dirt surface with reckless abandon, but, in the compound, the production crew were mindful of each other and followed and enforced CDC guidelines. Within NEP's onsite mobile units, the crew made sure to adhere to social-distancing regulations by leaving ample space between designated areas.
With no fans at the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium for initial races, Feld Entertainment may install an aerial camera system for upcoming races.
In addition, cross-contamination between crews was prevented by a race-day policy.
We broke down into functional groups because we tried to limit exposure to [our crew], Prater explains. We had three different groups in three separate mobile units, and they [weren't able to] associate with the other units or the groups. They stayed as far apart as they could from each other. [That] helped in the social-distancing portion but made things more challenging to do multiple roles.
In addition to increased space for each employee, all crew members were required to wear personal protective equipment in the form of a mask, and hand-sanitization stations were scattered around the compound.
We were just following the federal and state guidelines to a T, Prater adds. I think [our onsite team] gets it since everyone has lived through this for the past couple of months. They all want to finish the Supercross season.
A Template for Future Efforts: The Series' Final Six Races Ahead
On Sunday, Prater deployed a 12-camera show, fewer than the typical 19, for the first live competition since March 7 in Daytona Beach, FL. Despite having to cut a few camera positions, he is thinking of implementing additional technology to enhance subsequent broadcasts even without fans in the stands.
Face masks were a common sight during last weekend's Monster Energy AMA Supercross broadcast.
We tried to shoot within the stadium walls as best we could, but it was almost impossible to eliminate the sight of empty seats, he says. We aren't allowed to do anything different on Sunday, but we're looking to install an [aerial] camera system, which wouldn't be easy to do with people in the stands. That will give us another look.
Although Feld Entertainment's camera complement may change, Prater is committed to maintaining an atmosphere that prioritizes safety.
We have six more events, or about 2 weeks, left, and we'll do exactly the same thing that we did for the first one, he notes. We don't plan on changing anything. But everyone came in Monday morning with a smile, so, even though [our crew] knows this is a different situation, they're embracing it and going forward with a positive attitude.
Monster Energy AMA Supercross rolls on with Round 12 action on Wednesday, June 3 from Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Coverage begins with qualifying at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Gold and continues with gate drop from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on NBC Sports Network.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/06/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, announces its new Model 385 Mic/Intercom Beltpack. The Mode...
02/06/2026
The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 2...
02/06/2026
More signals, higher quality, and outstanding ingest and streaming flexibility deliver professional results in a small, all-in-one footprint...
02/06/2026
farmerswife will be featured on the Modena Media & Entertainment stand at this year's Mediatech Africa 2026, giving visitors an opportunity to explore the l...
02/06/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17 19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
June sees Ireland's cultural calendar in full bloom, as RT Supporting the Arts showcases a vibrant and wide-ranging programme spanning music, theatre, visu...
02/06/2026
After The Traitors Ireland launched in 2025, Irish audiences proved to have a taste for the global hit reality show. This Bank Holiday Monday fans can indulge e...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
SBS confirms its broadcast sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2026
1 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has secured Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Com...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Luxembourg, June 1, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, launched fast and reliable multi-orbit satelli...
01/06/2026
Agentic AI is getting physical.
At COMPUTEX on Tuesday, NVIDIA announced NVIDIA JetPack 7.2 and NVIDIA NemoClaw support on NVIDIA Jetson.
JetPack 7.2 brings a...
01/06/2026
Financial institutions have spent years building AI: fraud models, credit models...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
Feld Entertainment Brings Back Monster Energy AMA Supercross With Focus on Crew Safety NBC Sports' production partner stringently followed CDC guidelines By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
