CFP National Championship 2023: Dual ESPN Production Compound Anchored by Game Creek Video, Powered Fully by UPS

It’s a first for ESPN to power an event ‘of this size’ entirely on UPS; generators are supplied by Saunders Electric

A production the size of ESPN’s coverage of the 2023 CFP National Championship typically cannot be contained within the confines of a stadium’s traditional broadcast infrastructure.

That is true even at a facility as new and state-of-the-art as Los Angeles’s SoFi Stadium, where ESPN has erected a dual compound split between the stadium’s main loading dock and a layout of support vehicles parked outside in the stadium’s Lot N.

The compound is highlighted by a fleet of Game Creek Video trucks and, in a first for ESPN at this event, is fully powered by uninterruptible power supply, or UPS.

Production Units Tied Directly Into House Power

Anyone who has worked on a television compound knows the sound. The persistent humming of engines, generators, all the machinery keeping the lights on and the screens glowing. It’s a bit of an oddity for the ESPN team to walk through this compound at SoFi Stadium and have a quite different sensory experience.

The production compound at the 2023 CFP National Championship at SoFi Stadium is anchored by a fleet of trucks from Game Creek Video. (Photo: Game Creek Video)

“We were joking about how nice it is to be on a compound where you don’t have the hum of diesel engines running 24 hours a day,” says Tommy Mitchell, senior operations manager, ESPN. “It’s such a strange feeling on a show of this size. We’ve never done that.”

Saunders Electric has provided two of its Engineering Emmy Award-winning mobile UPS systems. Those units are tied directly into the house power and the power distributed to all the trucks and support vehicles in the compound.

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A representative from Game Creek Video notes that, on championship events like a CFP, UPS may be used to support elements of the tech side but it is a rarity for UPS to be used to power an entire production. UPS essentially allows the compound to leverage the power native to SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park while also serving as a substantial battery backup in case of disruptions of the area’s power supply.

The split compound is connected by more than 1,700 ft. of fiber. (Photo: Game Creek Video)

It’s also a positive step in sustainability for the ESPN compound.

“It’s a significant saving on the amount of fossil fuels we’re burning and the amount of carbon emissions that we’re putting in the atmosphere,” says Brian Ristine, remote operations specialist, ESPN.

Reps of both ESPN and Game Creek Video say this is the first show of this size and scope that they’ve worked on where UPS has powered the whole operation. Three separate tests of the UPS system were run this week and, according to Game Creek, were “flawless.”

Game Creek Video Out in Force

The Game Creek Video truck lineup is highlighted by 79. Its A and B units serve as the primary home for the main game production, including the front bench (which is filled by ESPN producer Bill Bonnell, director Derek Mobley, and Technical Director John Zipay).

Also on hand in L.A. are Peacock (A/B), which is supporting some of the Megacast options, tape release, and audio submix; Maverick and B2, supporting College GameDay and other onsite studio productions; Justice, which is behind any SEC Network programming; Edit 1, Edit 2, and Edit 3, serving in various capacities of game support; and B7, handling the Megacast option Field Pass With the Pat McAfee Show.

The two compounds are connected via approximately 1,700 ft. of fiber, with most of the production units in the loading dock (the one exception being GCV Justice, which is anchoring onsite studio shows for the SEC Network), and support vehicles in the parking lot.

The outside compound — located in SoFi Stadium’s Parking Lot N — features support vehicles, including Kaufman Broadcast, which is supporting ESPN’s robust transmission plan. (Photo: ESPN)

“We’ve really strived to make this compound a unified compound and unified facility,” says Ristine. “Rather than having the game as its own standalone unit, the studio as its own standalone unit, and SEC Network as its own standalone unit, we’ve brought it all together to make it one unified production facility and one unified compound. I think that’s a result of work that took place over the past four years. I think that bringing that together and making it a cohesive compound helps when you have challenges like splitting the compound because you know ahead of time what you need to do to make sure you’re providing the same level of facility and the same level of resources to everybody in the compound.”

According to Brian Nupnau, project manager, onsite, 2023 CFP National Championship, Game Creek Video, many of the trucks in the compound drove all the way across the country for the Peach Bowl in Atlanta (played on New Year’s Eve), and some produced the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, AZ (also on New Year’s Eve).

“This event is a culmination of many months of planning, meetings, and site surveys,” he says. “ESPN has been a great partner for us since the start of the College Football Playoffs. As the show has grown year over year, we work with them to create one of the most innovative shows in a very short time frame. We have less than a week from parking the trucks until we are on-air. There are a lot of moving parts on a show of this size.”

The production room of Game Creek Video’s Peacock A unit is home to some of the Megacast options made available of the ESPN family of networks. (Photo: Game Creek Video)

Game Creek has brought to the event 25 engineers and 14 drivers to cover all the ESPN programming. The engineer total includes a comms/IT specialist, an audio specialist, a replay/file-transfer specialist, a FATs specialists, a 4K-support specialist, logistical specialists, and other support engineers.

“This is the Super Bowl of college football,” adds Nupnau, “and we are very honored to be a part of it.”

Main game coverage of the 2022 CFP National Championship Game between TCU and Georgia begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. For a complete listing of the 12 MegaCast options available, CLICK HERE.