Fox Sports’ World Series Coverage Will Feature the Network’s Largest Deployment of Super Slow Motion, Hyper Motion Cameras

Statcast integration, audio enhancements to serve as hallmark of network's 20th World Series

With first pitch of the World Series just a week away, Fox Sports has rolled out it’s production and technology plans for its 20th presentation of the Fall Classic. The highlights of this year’s series will include more on-field microphones, further integration of Statcast graphics/analytics, and the network’s largest deployment ever of super slow motion and hyper motion cameras.

Fox Sports will deploy 121 microphones as part of its coverage of the World Series, including 14 underground microphones strategically buried around the playing field.

High-Speed Cameras
The visual highlights of this year’s World Series production will center around Fox Sports’ increased commitment to super slow motion and hyper motion cameras. High-speed cameras has been a key part of Fox Sports baseball productions on both the national and regional levels and this year’s World Series is another step forward in that development.

Fox is expected to place 41 cameras, including eight “Motion Cameras,” a few of which will be shooting at 1,500 fps (frames-per-second).

“Quite simply, it’s more Motion Cameras in play than at any other baseball game on any network this season,” said Michael Davies, FOX Sports SVP of Field & Technical Operations. 

Audio
Fox Sports’ audio coverage of baseball (which won the network a Sports Emmy earlier this year) will remain a hallmark of this World Series. As it did at the All-Star Game in Miami and it is currently doing in the American League Championship Series, the network is burying 14 microphones into the playing field to accompany 80-plus game-action microphones in play and around 15 to 20 mics on managers, umpires, and select players. The full deployment totals up to 121 microphones.

Statcast/Graphics
FOX Sports is revamping its graphics coverage (you may have noticed a new score bug and graphics package at the start of this Postseason) and introducing a more robust strikezone.

The network is partnering with SMT and MLBAM to provide an in-perspective strike zone for both live action and replays. SMT provides a live strike zone that incorporates data captured using MLBAM Statcast radar technology. Statcast shows off pitch speed and location in real time.

Fox will also use MLBAM’s Pitchcast system on replay sequences and allowing for the building of replay packages like all first-pitch strikes, pitch sequences to a certain batter, etc.