SVG On Demand: ROOT SPORTS Northwest VP/EP Jon Bradford Breaks Down the Eye-Popping Aerial Camera Used on Seattle Mariners Broadcasts

The two-point aerial camera system has pulled in gorgeous visuals that has garnered praise from viewers

As this unique Major League Baseball regular season nears its conclusion, regional sports networks across the country are putting the finishing touches on a shortened schedule that required operations teams to think outside the box to accomplish their goal of bringing live baseball to viewers at home.

Some, like the team at ROOT SPORTS Northwest (the regional sports network based in Seattle), took advantage of opportunity to try some innovative technology on its live broadcasts of the Seattle Mariners. Most notably, the network rigged a two-point aerial camera system – the DACTYLCAM PRO by DEFY – above the stands down the third base line at T-Mobile Park to pull in gorgeous cinematic views of on-field play.

Jon Bradford, Vice President and Executive Producer for ROOT SPORTS Northwest chats with SVG’s Director of Digital Brandon Costa about the creative inspiration behind the camera and what advice he would give to other broadcasters looking to experiment more in aerial cameras for baseball:

The DACTYLCAM PRO can reach maximum speeds of up to 40 miles-per-hour, can carry a maximum payload of 100 pounds, and can run for up to 10 hours on a pair of 48v batteries. In this use case, the cable runs nearly 500 feet over T-Mobile Park’s lower bowl of seats on the side of the third base line.