SVG Rewind: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports’ Chris Brown on the Challenges of Producing Golf Under the Lights for ‘The Match’

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports’ produced the seventh edition of The Match last weekend with a big twist – the latest TNT broadcast took place under the lights at night. In the end Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas came out on top against Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in the 12-hole competition on Dec. 10 from Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, and WBD Sports’ production and operations teams delivered a first-of-its-kind primetime golf broadcast.

NEP’s EN2 (A and B units) and BSI RF5 mobile units were on-site for the production, while NEP’s Bexel and Fletcher also provided support. WBD Sports deployed more than 30 cameras throughout the course (a mix of Sony HDC-2500’s and HDC-4300’s along with a Sony P1 SteadiCam) with a mix of Canon and Fuji lenses. In addition all four golfers were mic’ed up throughout the 12-hole round, providing viewers with the all-access coverage that has become a staple of The Match. Musco Sports Lighting also played a major role in the production to ensure viewers could see all the night-time action.

SVG sat down with Chris Brown, VP, Tech Operations, WBD Sports, to discuss how his team pulled off such a unique production, the key considerations when shooting golf at night, and how The Match production ops have evolved since the premier edition in 2018.