DEEP DIVE
T
he fall is seemingly always a busy time for Fox Sports, but adding in the globe’s most-watched soccer tournament into the mix makes the broadcaster’s job a lot tougher. From the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the plethora of NFL broadcasts to weekly college football broadcasts and daily college basketball games, the production and technical operations crews have a lot to deal with. Mike Davies, SVP, technical and field operations and SVG Chairman; Brad Cheney, VP, field operations and engineering; Sarita Meinking, executive director, field operations; and Rich Russo, lead NFL director, provided insight into their jam-packed schedule. On what it’s like operating during an intense period of productions, including the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup, the NFL regular season and playoffs, and more, and what needs to be done to produce shows with minimal hiccups: Meinking: We do 16 weeks of college football, and when you throw college football, NFL, and FIFA World Cup into the mix at the same time, it takes a lot of coordination. We’ve re-arranged our staff and stretched [our operations] more this year than we’ve done in a while. This includes maximizing all of our facilities as well in Charlotte and Los Angeles. It’s been a real test to see what we’re capable of. PylonCams were among the 56 camera feeds available to the broadcast of the 2022 USFL Championship Game.
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SPORTS PRODUCTION 2023 YEARBOOK
Inside Fox Sports’ FIFA World Cup remote production operating out of The Vault at its Pico Blvd. facility in LA.
On capturing the right balance between technology and showing the proper level of fan/player emotion during the NFL season: Russo: We’re in the business of storytelling, and it’s important that we tell different stories each week. We’ve had some great shots of plays during the regular season and Super Bowl, but these high-speed cameras really help with grabbing those subtle shots that we can take
