2023 FIFA Women's World Cup: Dynamic Studio Powers Fox Sports Efforts Interior, outdoor sets can each house full on-air broadcast By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, July 18, 2023 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The Fox Sports team is onsite in a big way for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, notably with dynamic, dual-stage outdoor studios perfectly situated at the Campbells Cove historic waterfront promenade in Sydney.
Sydney Harbour provides the backdrop for Fox Sports coverage of the 2023 Women's World Cup.
It has been eight years since our first Women's World Cup, in Canada, says Mike Davies, SVP, technical and field operations, Fox Sports. The amazing team - led by our VP, Remote Studio Operations, Rod Conti and VP, Field Operations and Engineering, Kevin Callahan (a veritable Elton John and Bernie Taupin) - have refined things to make this a success. They are the engines behind a lot of this: Rod had to deal with no fewer than seven government agencies, and that doesn't happen without a lot of acumen and experience.
The studios will be the epicenter of the broadcaster's highly anticipated presentation of the tournament. The dual-set approach enables Fox to broadcast from both the interior set and an outdoor fan-facing set, each featuring the iconic Sydney Opera House as the main backdrop. This approach also provides the production team with options to highlight magnificent shots of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Campbells Cove.
The interior set measures 106 ft. x 57.5 ft. and 27 ft. high. The outdoor set is a roofed, open-sided structure with a 59- x 46-ft. footprint and 26-ft. roof height. The outdoor stage has both a demo pitch area and a 360-degree fan-facing desk, providing the option to broadcast from an open-air environment.
Key, in terms of deliverables, is that each of the two set stages (designed by Sydney-based StageKings) is capable of housing a full on-air broadcast. Also important is that the outdoor stage gives fans a 360-degree look, weather permitting. In addition, the demo pitch stage houses two fan-facing LED headers provided by another Sydney-based company, Technical Direction Co. (known locally as TDC).
The multinational team is fantastic, says Davies. We're excited to dig in for a month here in beautiful Sydney. Just getting to know some of these local vendors, like our stage vendors, has been great. They're awesome people and are so friendly and wonderful.
Deployed on the sets are 15 Grass Valley LDX 150 cameras with Canon (20 5 and 14 4.3) lenses. A Grass Valley switcher and Grass Valley Alchemist frame-rate converters are in the mix, alongside an EVS video router, EVS replay servers, and Calrec audio consoles. There are 18 Sanken COS 11-D wireless microphones supplied by Shure Axient, and graphics and data at the set are driven by Vizrt products, including Viz Engine and Viz Trio, supporting augmented reality via Unreal Engine and Stype motion tracking.
TAG Video Systems has also played a part, providing multiviewer and monitor solutions. Its 100%-IP software platform will run across all Fox Sports control rooms and operations multiviewers, monitoring the integrity of more than 1,200 sources driving 150+ displays.
Built as two separate and redundant systems by TAG, the Fox Sports joint event system is the world's largest transportable SMPTE ST 2110 live-production flypack, able to be quickly flown to and set up for major events.
With a full control room, 40 tech-core racks, and six venue racks, the system travels fully pre-wired and ready to go on arrival. This first-of-its-kind flypack enables Fox Sports to bypass intermodal transport by container ships and quickly move the system from event to event.
Over at the IBC The International Broadcast Centre serves as home to broadcasters from around the globe, including Fox Sports. The bespoke facility serves as the central point of connectivity for FIFA Women's World Cup broadcasters between Australia, New Zealand, and, in Fox's case, the U.S. According to Davies, the Fox Sports Vault crew in Los Angeles will be in full swing, with EVS, graphics, and Fox Box operations.
We also will have several announce teams during the Group Stage, as well as producers and editors, in Pico, he explains
. At the IBC, we have two match control rooms and a master control. There is also a smaller Auckland Resource Center, which is provided by FIFA and handles all the events in New Zealand.
At the IBC, Fox Sports receives access to 10 feeds from every match. The technology there includes an EVS router, two Ross switchers, EVS servers, 13 Grass Valley Alchemists, two Calrec audio consoles, and a Riedel intercom system. There are 56 bidirectional video paths between IBC and the set and six unilateral paths between the venues, all sent via EVS Neuron Compress. With 92 channels of ingest at the IBC (and an additional 60 at the set location), the production team has maximum flexibility when it comes to content creation.
HBS (Host Broadcast Services) will once again play a big part in the overall World Cup production, providing the UHD, HDR, and ST 2110 broadcast facility that rightsholders tie into. HBS production teams will cover all 64 matches live across both countries with innovative broadcast technology and an ensemble of the world's best soccer producers and technical teams. More than 25 cameras - including six high-frame-rate cameras and a drone - will be deployed for each match, creating more than 100 hours of content per match. Fox ENG crews will make use of a mix of Sony PXW-FX9 and VENICE 2 cameras coupled with a LiveU bonded-cellular transmission system.
It's all part of delivering what is, literally, the biggest sports event of 2023. Kevin [Callahan] points out that thi
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup: Dynamic Studio Powers Fox Sports Efforts Interior, outdoor sets can each house full on-air broadcast By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
