Jamie Reynolds, vice president of production at ESPN, has been involved with plenty of US Opens but none like this year. The absence of some of the game’s top stars, a pandemic, the return of noisy fans after a 2020 Open memorable for its silence; all of these factors have marked this year’s Open, and […] More
ESPN’s production of both the domestic and the world feed for the US Open continues to evolve, and, this year, it rose to a new level, with court coverage expanding to every court in the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. ESPN’s Larry Wilson says it’s great to see the whole production team back onsite […] More
The US Open tennis tournament TV production team heads into its first full weekend of tennis expecting full stands, clear skies, and, hopefully, smooth sailing. And it’s well deserved after a challenging first week that saw the remnants of Hurricane Ida whip across the Billie Jean King Tennis Center on Wednesday night and a final […] More
The Australian Open has just closed its doors at Melbourne Park on what was an unusual event for both the players and the crews that made it happen. From broadcast staff having to ship into Australia in early December for an event that did not start until 26 January, to heavy quarantines and strict COVID-19 […] More
International horserace, The Bahrain International Trophy, enjoyed worldwide television exposure on Friday 20 November, with 123 countries broadcasting the action live. The £500,000 contest attracted 14 runners from five countries, including five Group 1 winners headlined by 2019 Irish Derby hero Sovereign and Japanese super mare Deirdre. The race, which also saw a strong local […] More
ESPN’s 10-part documentary The Last Dance, which chronicles Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, has drawn raves that are only enhanced by the fact that it’s one of the only new sports-content shows on television during the pandemic. Using never-before-seen footage intercut with interviews with more than 100 people close to the team, the […] More
Coupled with player tracking and data, augmented reality (AR) is opening up new ways of storytelling for sports TV production teams. It is also allowing studios to take advantage of advanced green-screen technology and virtual sets in a way that enhances nearly every aspect of a production, from pregame to postgame and beyond. The opportunities […] More
Saturday’s PPV fight between previously undefeated heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder and unbeaten lineal champ Tyson Fury wasn’t just the biggest heavyweight bout in recent memory; it also marked the biggest boxing production in network history for ESPN. “I think, without a shadow of a doubt, this is definitely the biggest,” ESPN remote operations manager Kim […] More
The Seattle Sounders won the second MLS Cup title in their history when they beat Toronto FC 3-1 in the 2019 final at CenturyLink Field in front of a Seattle record crowd of 69,274 on Sunday (10 November 2019). It is the second time the club has won the MLS championship in the last four […] More
ESPN’s ever-expanding coverage of sports events big and small has provided the company with an opportunity to produce those events on every scale imaginable. There are, for example, the multi-day efforts for US Open tennis, the megacasts for college football and the robust NBA, MLB, and Monday Night Football productions. But continuing expansion of coverage […] More
