SVG Year in Review: August

The NFL lockout, one of two major labor battles during 2011, finally ended in late July, and mobile production vendors were more than happy to get back to work at stadiums across the country in August. In celebration of the lockout’s conclusion, SVG delivered a series of NFL preseason special reports regarding the Broncos, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Jets, Ravens, and Redskins.

Three major rights deals were also inked in August, as Fox Sports Media Group brought UFC to broadcast television (plus FX and Fuel) for a cool $100 million, NBC Sports Group added MLS to its portfolio, and ABC locked up the Indy 500 through 2018.

With the NFL season now firmly on the horizon, several new trucks hit the road, including Crosscreek’s Voyager 10, two Game Creek units for ESPN and NEP’s SS32.

In early August, rumors of a 3D London Olympics in 2012 were confirmed, along with the news that the BBC plans to offer Super Hi-Vision screenings of the games.

The much anticipated Longhorn Network, a joint venture between the University of Texas and ESPN, finally launched with many expecting it to change the face of the college sports landscape. Though it has struggled with carriage battles in the state of Texas, the Longhorn Network has rolled out a full slate of programming and promises to produce more than 200 UT events in its first year. At the official unveiling, SVG sat down with Burke Magnus, VP of College Sports Programming at ESPN, to get an inside look at the one-of-a-kind network.

College football season kicked off with a bang as, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, ESPN/ABC, CBS Sports Network, Versus, ESPN 3D, Big Ten Network, and several other conference networks all added key production elements to their coverage.

Other highlights included PGA.com and  CBS Sports’ production of the PGA Championship, ESPN 3D’s further use of the evolving “5D” production model at the Little League World Series, Fox Sports’ new highlight workflow, and Kansas State’s new digital network.