2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup: Dynamic Studio Powers Fox Sports Efforts

Interior, outdoor sets can each house full on-air broadcast

The Fox Sports team is onsite in a big way for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, notably with dynamic, dual-stage outdoor studios perfectly situated at the Campbells Cove historic waterfront promenade in Sydney.

Sydney Harbour provides the backdrop for Fox Sports coverage of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

“It has been eight years since our first Women’s World Cup, in Canada,” says Mike Davies, SVP, technical and field operations, Fox Sports. “The amazing team — led by our VP, Remote Studio Operations, Rod Conti and VP, Field Operations and Engineering, Kevin Callahan (a veritable Elton John and Bernie Taupin) — have refined things to make this a success. They are the engines behind a lot of this: Rod had to deal with no fewer than seven government agencies, and that doesn’t happen without a lot of acumen and experience.”

The studios will be the epicenter of the broadcaster’s highly anticipated presentation of the tournament. The dual-set approach enables Fox to broadcast from both the “interior set” and an “outdoor fan-facing” set, each featuring the iconic Sydney Opera House as the main backdrop. This approach also provides the production team with options to highlight magnificent shots of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Campbells Cove.

The interior set measures 106 ft. x 57.5 ft. and 27 ft. high. The outdoor set is a roofed, open-sided structure with a 59- x 46-ft. footprint and 26-ft. roof height. The outdoor stage has both a demo pitch area and a 360-degree fan-facing desk, providing the option to broadcast from an open-air environment.

Key, in terms of deliverables, is that each of the two set stages (designed by Sydney-based StageKings) is capable of housing a full on-air broadcast. Also important is that the outdoor stage gives fans a 360-degree look, weather permitting. In addition, the demo pitch stage houses two fan-facing LED headers provided by another Sydney-based company, Technical Direction Co. (known locally as TDC).

“The multinational team is fantastic,” says Davies. “We’re excited to dig in for a month here in beautiful Sydney. Just getting to know some of these local vendors, like our stage vendors, has been great. They’re awesome people and are so friendly and wonderful.”

Deployed on the sets are 15 Grass Valley LDX 150 cameras with Canon (20×5 and 14×4.3) lenses. A Grass Valley switcher and Grass Valley Alchemist frame-rate converters are in the mix, alongside an EVS video router, EVS replay servers, and Calrec audio consoles. There are 18 Sanken COS 11-D wireless microphones supplied by Shure Axient, and graphics and data at the set are driven by Vizrt products, including Viz Engine and Viz Trio, supporting augmented reality via Unreal Engine and Stype motion tracking.

TAG Video Systems has also played a part, providing multiviewer and monitor solutions. Its 100%-IP software platform will run across all Fox Sports control rooms and operations multiviewers, monitoring the integrity of more than 1,200 sources driving 150+ displays.

Built as two separate and redundant systems by TAG, the Fox Sports joint event system is the world’s largest transportable SMPTE ST 2110 live-production flypack, able to be quickly flown to and set up for major events.

With a full control room, 40 tech-core racks, and six venue racks, the system travels fully pre-wired and ready to go on arrival. This first-of-its-kind flypack enables Fox Sports to bypass intermodal transport by container ships and quickly move the system from event to event.

Over at the IBC

The International Broadcast Centre serves as home to broadcasters from around the globe, including Fox Sports. The bespoke facility serves as the central point of connectivity for FIFA Women’s World Cup broadcasters between Australia, New Zealand, and, in Fox’s case, the U.S. According to Davies, the Fox Sports Vault crew in Los Angeles will be in full swing, with EVS, graphics, and Fox Box operations.

“We also will have several announce teams during the Group Stage, as well as producers and editors, in Pico,” he explains

. “At the IBC, we have two match control rooms and a master control. There is also a smaller Auckland Resource Center, which is provided by FIFA and handles all the events in New Zealand.”

At the IBC, Fox Sports receives access to 10 feeds from every match. The technology there includes an EVS router, two Ross switchers, EVS servers, 13 Grass Valley Alchemists, two Calrec audio consoles, and a Riedel intercom system. There are 56 bidirectional video paths between IBC and the set and six unilateral paths between the venues, all sent via EVS Neuron Compress. With 92 channels of ingest at the IBC (and an additional 60 at the set location), the production team has maximum flexibility when it comes to content creation.

HBS (Host Broadcast Services) will once again play a big part in the overall World Cup production, providing the UHD, HDR, and ST 2110 broadcast facility that rightsholders tie into. HBS production teams will cover all 64 matches live across both countries with innovative broadcast technology and an ensemble of the world’s best soccer producers and technical teams. More than 25 cameras — including six high-frame-rate cameras and a drone — will be deployed for each match, creating more than 100 hours of content per match. Fox ENG crews will make use of a mix of Sony PXW-FX9 and VENICE 2 cameras coupled with a LiveU bonded-cellular transmission system.

It’s all part of delivering what is, literally, the biggest sports event of 2023. “Kevin [Callahan] points out that this is the biggest yet in terms of number of games and distances covered,” notes Davies. “Canada [site of the 2015 World Cup, which Fox Sports covered] was only 4,200 km wide; here the distance is 4,800 km.”

Embracing Digital

The FOX Sports App will also stream all 64 FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 matches live on the FOX Sports app. Each match will also be available to stream in 4K on connected TVs and “living room” apps, including Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV, and Roku. Viewers joining live matches late on authenticated streaming devices will be able to choose to catch up on key moments missed with the Catch-Up With Highlights option or jump straight into live play.

As previously announced, for the first time in the history of the women’s tournament on Fox, the broadcaster will offer in-match previews and live pre-/post-match shows for every match exclusively for Twitter via @FOXSports and @FOXSoccer. The broadcaster’s social channels will also feature near–real-time match highlights, Q&As with Fox soccer personalities, weekly live analysis via Twitter Spaces featuring lively audio content around the games, personally curated Twitter moments, and more.

Each show on Twitter will utilize Fox Sports’ full arsenal of in-stadium feeds, taking fans inside the stadium with their favorite players and teams as they get set for competition. Each post-match show will offer highlights of every key play, goal, and celebration, complete with instant reaction and best-in-class analysis.

Also planned are additional onsite reports, features, and analysis by insiders Doug McIntyre and Laken Litman, enhancing the broadcaster’s comprehensive coverage with timely storytelling and insight delivered from stadiums across Australia and New Zealand. The duo will be in-stadium for all USWNT matches throughout the competition.

In addition, Fox Sports’ award-winning FIFA World Cup Hub will launch this week, featuring dynamic updates on current match and tournament status and providing convenient access to all digital content across FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports App.

Key features:

• Live streams and full replays of all 64 matches
• Match Center (bonus feeds, commentary, rosters, stats, and highlights)
• Extensive highlights
• Exclusive original content
• Fan guide
• Team pages
• Schedules
• Standings
• Stats

Users can “favorite” their teams of choice and the tournament overall within the FOX Sports App to get quick updates throughout the tournament.