ESPN Mikes Up Players, Conducts FaceTime Interviews During Four-Game Spring Training Slate
Simple setup of an Apple iPhone, AirPods generates endless possibilities
Story Highlights
After a frigid winter across the United States, all 30 MLB teams have flocked to the warmer weather of Florida and Arizona for 2021 Spring Training. Regional sports networks are busy providing games for their local markets, but for the four-game national schedule on ESPN, the broadcaster highlighted their coverage with multiple mic’ed up players and FaceTime interviews that were held in places like the dugout, clubhouse, or even a two kinds of transportation.
“We had interviews with [Chicago Cubs outfielder] Jason Hayward on a golf cart talking about the weather that’s coming and [Tampa Bay Rays outfielder] Kevin Kiermaier joined us from his car while he was about to go get a haircut in Port Charlotte, FL.” says Phil Orlins, senior coordinating producer, ESPN. “It was great to have opened a world to unlimited access to the players.”
Set in Seoul: KBO Coverage Inspires Remote Interviews Over FaceTime
ESPN used FaceTime for real-time interviews, including this one with Dominic Smith of the New York Mets.
Nearly a year after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still lessons and techniques being used by the production team. During the network’s extended coverage of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), operations and productions were pushed to the limit to provide synchronized commentary with action that was happening on the other side of the globe. With a world feed coming from Seoul, South Korea, Orlins and company began laying the ground work for what was used during the 60-game regular season in 2020 and the current iteration that was used for Spring Training.
“We wanted our coverage to also have a talk show format,” says Orlins. “In the world that we’re living in, the whole key was easily accessing players anywhere via FaceTime. Back in Bristol at our central control room, we were able to sync everything up perfectly with almost no latency. We had around three to five guests on 150 games last season.”
Due to physical limitations and access to players, the sports-video-production industry began to move away from the customary interview setup with manicured lighting and environment control. The virtual world has given way to more immediate availability, but productions are not as tethered as they used to be.
Game cameras were also used to capture full body shots of the players.
“We began to realize that there were no [technological] limitations because we weren’t tied down to a truck or satellite feed,” he continues. “It rapidly went from ‘Can we possibly get this guy?’ to ‘He can join us from his home since he’s only a one-minute call away.’”
Fast-forward to last week’s quartet of games and the workflow has relatively stayed the same. On-air talent still reported from offsite locations, including play-by-play commentator Karl Ravech in Bristol, CT, analyst Tim Kurkjian in Maryland, and analyst Eduardo Perez in Miami. While these interviews occurred over FaceTime, the behind-the-scenes setup was pretty minimalistic. The only issue that arose was when the broadcast cut to a full body shot on the main game cameras.
“Every question and answer had about a two-second delay on those, but were in perfect sync with our broadcast team,” adds Orlins. “We sometimes went to the game camera to show the dugout or a shot of the player talking on the phone from a distance, but we kept the telecast on the FaceTime camera for the most part.
In the Field: Mic’ed Players Offer Inside Access and Spontaneous Commentary
In what has become a Spring Training tradition, the network is upping their access by micing a select handful of players on the field. Prior to the stoppage of last year’s Spring Training, the Chicago Cubs’ corner duo of first basemen Anthony Rizzo and third basemen Kris Bryant wore microphones during a matchup against the Los Angeles Angels. This example leveraged the more traditional wired lavalier microphone that’s attached to the jersey. This spring, ESPN opted for a more simplified version with Apple AirPods and an iPhone in their back pocket:
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“Players already own their Bluetooth headphones, so this couldn’t have been any easier,” says Orlins. “There was the initial debate of whether or not it looked right, but from the outset, I felt that it was going to create more natural-looking shots in a more relaxed environment.”
Randy Arozarena and Brett Phillips of the Tampa Bay Rays are mic’ed up during their game against the Boston Red Sox.
In both instances of these real-time interviews, ESPN worked diligently with both the league and the participating teams to get appropriate clearance. Before selecting a player, MLB and the team need to clarify who is making the trip and who will be penciled into the lineup. From a team’s perspective, the organizations have been more than willing to take part in this endeavor to grow the sport and highlight some of baseball’s most notable names.
“We had some guys call in on their own phone and use their own headphones, but we put an ESPN-owned phone in each dugout that they’re able to pass around,” continues Orlins. “We wanted to keep a transmission path on FaceTime open throughout the course of the game.”
Rolling With REMI: Bristol-Based Control Room Handles Remote Production
ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol was the center of their production efforts during the Spring Training period. REMI-style shoes were more prevalent than ever last season, and the network flexed their muscles once again with a standard variation of the production. This method was in response to the stringent COVID-19 safety protocols still in effect across the league and the low-scale infrastructure at these Spring Training facilities.
“Spring training facilities aren’t really wired for fiber connectivity like professional ballparks,” says Paul Horrell, remote operations manager, ESPN. “We rolled up an up-link truck and muxed down the six camera feeds into one public path back to Bristol.”
Similar to how operations have been conducted over the last 12 months, safety is of the utmost importance for the staffers working in Bristol. Some of the team worked inside of the control room, while others utilized other areas of the broadcast facility as well.
Ravech, Kurkjian, and Perez provided commentary from offsite locations.
“Per ESPN safety protocol, we made sure that all of the people working on any of these games were tested beforehand,” adds Horrell. “We also followed MLB guidelines by adhering to social distancing and the tiered levels of where you’re allowed to go in the stadium.”
Out on the road, the six-camera show was facilitated by 15 onsite personnel. In the compound, NEP and Game Creek Video provided the link back to Bristol from the four respective ballparks in Florida and Arizona. To kick off the schedule, NEP’s NCPVII headed to JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, FL for Tampa Bay Rays- Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, March 2. The following day, NEP’s M-5 headed to Sloan Park in Mesa, AZ for Seattle Mariners-Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, March 3. Back on the east coast, Game Creek Video’s Webby made its way to First Data Field in Port St. Lucie, FL for Washington Nationals-New York Mets on Thursday, March 4. To cap off the slate, NEP’s M-5 drove 48 miles northwest to Surprise Stadium in Surprise, AZ for Los Angeles Dodgers-Kansas City Royals on Friday, March 5.
A Test Run: Exhibition Schedule Gets ESPN Ready for Another Year of Hybrid Workflows
For both ESPN and Major League Baseball franchise, Spring Training is a time for optimism and experimentation. Whether it’s tinkering lineups and pitching rotations or troubleshooting issues on the production side, this brief time in the sun is ultimately leading up to the games that count in April.
“There’s a couple of different production workflows that are still in play,” concludes Horrell. “We may change some things a little bit to gain more of an onsite presence and have more control over the production.”
