U.S. Open Cup Final 2023: Telemundo Deportes Rolls Out New Mobile Unit for Local Production of Championship Match

In-house–developed truck sends feeds to Telemundo Center in Miami

It has been a busy year for the production and operations teams at Telemundo Deportes. After the Men’s World Cup in Qatar in December 2022 and the Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand this past July, its list of championship soccer broadcasts extended to last night’s 2023 U.S. Open Cup Final in Fort Lauderdale, FL. With the match taking place in its backyard, the Spanish-language broadcaster deployed the new internally developed Surf Boy mobile unit for its first live sports broadcast and cut the final show at Telemundo Center in nearby Miami.

“This was our remote-production truck’s first live use case,” says SVP, Content Operations, Chris Suarez-Meyers. “We broke in that new resource by pushing back all the camera feeds to Telemundo Center along with a handful of isos.”

Ops Plan: Surf Boy Mobile Unit Connects Onsite Team With Crew at Telemundo Center

Developed by Director, Field Operations, Vanessa Sabatier, the Surf Boy truck was an integral part of the production. Given the facility’s proximity to the venue — Telemundo Center is about 50 miles southwest of DRV PNK Stadium — it made sense to have the newly created truck as the conduit between the 75-person onsite staff and the high-octane control rooms at home. In addition, the short trip up north allowed personnel to sleep in their own beds and gave a more localized crew the chance to work on a domestic soccer final.

“Logistically, ,” says Suarez-Meyers, “[being at DRV PNK Stadium] gave some of our folks, who wouldn’t necessarily travel for an event like this, some time in the field. We dipped into our in-house pool of technical-production–crew members and had them commute up the road.”

As for the technology deployed for live match coverage, Telemundo Deportes tapped into the shared resources of world-feed broadcaster VISTA Worldlink and supplemented those feeds with a handful of unilateral cameras. Telemundo Deportes and fellow U.S. broadcaster CBS Sports leaned on a close relationship with the VISTA Worldlink crew, including VP/Executive Producer, Production Services, Mike Freedman; Tech Manager Steven Kravit; and Operations Producer Victor Bague.

“We get along great with them,” notes Suarez-Meyers. “Many of them had previous careers with us, so it was almost like a family reunion. We understand their capabilities on the technical side and had no doubt that they were going to be able to deliver a quality product.”

On the Pitch: Studio Team Shares Footprint With CBS Sports at DRV PNK Stadium

Besides live match coverage, Telemundo had its studio team onsite for pre/postmatch and halftime analysis. Situated at the southwest corner of the stadium, Miguel Gurwitz and Ana Jurka were joined by the voices on the call — play-by-play commentator Andrés Cantor and analysts Manuel Sol and Maxi Rodríguez — in an area reserved for the VIP Experience during regular-season Inter Miami matches. When Director, Production, Sports, Adrian Costas; SVP, Production, Robert Pardo; and Suarez-Meyers conducted an initial site survey, they decided on this spot over others.

“When we scouted the stadium and were evaluating the different options,” says Costas, “we knew that this was the spot. We started working with U.S. Soccer and Inter Miami to find a way for us to use it as our host position.”

Manuel Sol, Andrés Cantor, and Maxi Rodríguez in the booth at DRV PNK Stadium.

Utilizing a relationship with Inter Miami Senior Director, Broadcast and Event Presentation, Luis Dones and his team, Telemundo was able to carve out an ample footprint despite sharing the space with CBS Sports’ studio team of Kate Abdo, Micah Richards, Clint Dempsey, and Charlie Davies.

On the tech side, the location featured two dedicated cameras but posed a big challenge: the need to have a backup plan for inclement weather during Telemundo Deportes’ first-ever U.S. Open Cup Final.

“We had a production and technical operations meeting on Tuesday,” says Costas, “and were discussing contingency plans for rain and also for severe wind since our talent wouldn’t be able to stand on the roof of our location. If we did have to move away, we could have gone into our commentary position since it was a booth within an enclosed environment.”

Argentinian Dream: Cantor Calls His Second Final Featuring a Lionel Messi Team

Commentator Andrés Cantor was in a unique position. Not only was the native Argentinian on the call for Messi’s triumphant reunion with the World Cup trophy after defeating France at Lusail Stadium, but he had the opportunity to witness another final poised to make history with another Messi win. In a production with so many moving variables, having Cantor behind the mic for another dramatic final was a decision set in stone.

“That’s the top storyline for us,” Costas points out. “Having the opportunity of seeing Messi potentially lifting another trophy was a big driver for this production.”

Cantor wasn’t the only member of the talent team with a special attachment to the match: Rodríguez had a connection as well.

“Maxi played with Lionel for the Argentinian national team,” says Costas, adding, “Inter Miami manager Tata Martino and Maxi come from the same city of Rosario in Argentina.”