SVG College: Louisville Brings Together Local College Sports-Video Community With Tour of Cardinals’ $8M Production Facility

Attendees also took part in in-depth conversations on live streaming and in-venue videoboard production

On Feb. 26, the latest in the SVG College Regional Event Series took us to Louisville, KY, and the campus of the University of Louisville for SVG College: Louisville. More than 60 attendees from 10 area colleges and universities, as well as professionals from local broadcasters, networked and shared their strategies at the event, held at Cardinal Stadium and the university’s brand-new Athletics Broadcast Center.

Attendees of Tuesday’s SVG College: Louisville event toured the Cardinals’ new $8 million production facility.

Attendees were given an in-depth look at the Cardinals’ production facilities and overall approach to supporting its multiplatform content-creation strategy. Led by Jeremy Noe, executive director, ACC Network Operations,  University of Louisville, the tour comprised an in-depth explanation of and toured the new ACC Network-approved video-production–control rooms and facilities in the UofL Athletics Broadcast Center. The $8 million facility houses four control rooms, two studios, a green room, a classroom, offices, and more and is connected via fiber to 13 on-campus venues and ESPN in Bristol, CT.

The UofL Athletics Broadcast Center features two studios, a giant green screen, and four control rooms. It supports 13 venues on campus and is connected via fiber to ESPN headquarters.

The day’s agenda included a discussion on the technology and strategies behind outstanding in-venue video production. Mike Bonner, executive producer, Fighting Irish Media,  University of Notre Dame; Jennifer Hanson, director, game production and fan experience, University of Louisville; and Owen Seaton, a veteran producer for Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment, shared their expertise on the topic, along with some of their favorite examples of stadium video success.

A session on best practices in live event production focused on how colleges decide camera placement, utilize production facilities, and recruit and train students. The conversation was led by Alex Kartman, director, digital sports production, Ball State Sports Link, Ball State University; Megan Coffey, associate director, creative services and multimedia, University of Cincinnati; and Zach Roberts, director, video productions, Ohio University.

The SVG College Regional Event Series is a recurring series of half-day programs hosted by various schools across the country that have demonstrated a commitment to and investment in live video production. The shows are designed to bring together content creators and production-technology specialists with some of the industry’s top technology vendors to discuss best practices by those at all levels of production expertise. Seasoned veterans share their experiences and help guide those looking to dive headfirst into the exciting world of video production in college athletics.

.