NFL Playoffs 2024: NBC Sports Trifurcates Ops as First Broadcaster To Produce Three NFL Playoff Games in a Single Weekend

500+ crew members, three high-end production trucks are being deployed

With a Saturday doubleheader and Sunday primetime game on the docket, NBCUniversal will be the first media company in history to serve as the home of three NFL Playoff Games in a single weekend. To pull off the unprecedented logistical challenge of producing three A-level NFL Playoff shows in a single weekend, NBC Sports’ operations team had to arrange travel for more than 500 production and technical crew members and book three high-end mobile units to serve the trio of games — all in a very short time frame.

“We’re always excited about NFL Playoffs,” says Tim DeKime, VP, sports operations, NBC Sports. “Having three Wild Card Games on NBC and Peacock was challenging, but we knew we had the personnel and resources to make Wild Card Weekend a success.”

The action kicks off Saturday with Cleveland Browns–Houston Texans on NBC and Peacock on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET, followed by Miami Dolphins–Kansas City Chiefs exclusively on Peacock at 8 p.m. The L.A. Rams–Detroit Lions matchup kicks off at 8 p.m. on Sunday on NBC and Peacock.

NBC Sports’ trio of NFL Wild Card Games kicks off Saturday with Cleveland Browns–Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET.

NBC Sports’ Wild Card Triad: Productions Roll Out to Houston, KC, and Detroit

The Browns–Texans game production team will deploy NEP ND1 (A, B, C, and D units), used for Sunday Night Football for many years, at NRG Stadium in Houston. Most of the production and engineering crew that handled NBC’s Big 10 college-football package this year are in Houston. The technical team is led by Keith Kice, Brett Fifeld and Jake McGrath; operations are spearheaded by Kregg Van Meter and Mike Horgan.

Production and operations team in Houston for NBC Sports: (from left) Mike Horgan, Brett Fifield, Keith Kice, Kregg VanMeter, Jake McGrath

For the Peacock streaming-exclusive broadcast from Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, NBC Sports has rolled out the Game Creek Video Prime One trucks that handled Thursday Night Football all season. The Prime One fleet comprises five production trucks and an office truck (Prime Two typically used for the onsite studio show is not on hand in KC) – all powered by Filmwerks generator and UPS systems. Most of the production and technical crew assigned to Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football (NBC Sports operations played an integral role) throughout the season are now in KC braving the subzero temperatures. The technical team is led by Janny Powelson, Jess Fogarty, and Zaque Meyers, along with Pregame Technical Manager Ethan Balcer; the operations team comprises Tim DeKime, Luke Milik, Linda Kane, and Lynn Mignani.

Production/operationrs team in Kansas City: (from left) Ethan Balcer, Luke Milik, Kinda Kane, Jenny Powelson, Zaque Meyers, Tim DeKime, Jess Fogarty, Lynn Mignani, Olen Perkins

The Sunday Wild Card Game in Detroit will deploy NEP SNF1 fleet of mobile units (A, B, C and D), which debuted this season on Sunday Night Football, and the bulk of the SNF production and engineering teams. In Detroit, technical managers are John Roche and Andrew Lawing, with Vincent Rao and Kristen Moorby handling operations. The SNF1 trucks (called ND2 when working on other projects) and SNF crew will also handle NBC’s Divisional game next weekend.

The production/operations team in Detroit: (from left) Andrew Lawing, Vinny Rao, John Roche, Kristen Moorby

According to Dekime, the camera complements and equipment levels for all three games are on par with a Sunday Night Football production. The camera arsenal for all three games largely comprises Sony HDC-500’s (many licensed for 6X super-slo-mo), Sony HDC 4800 4K 4X slo-mos, and Sony HDC-4300’s — all with primarily Canon glass (including a large number of 122X lenses). Also included at all three stadiums will be a Skycam system, goal-line and line-to-gain PylonCams, and many wireless RF camera (handheld and Steadicams), robos, and POVs.

All three of NBC’s NFL Wild Card Game productions feature camera complements on par with that of Sunday Night Football.

Weather Impact: Storm in Detroit and Brutal Temps in KC Could Make Things Interesting  

As is often the case in the doldrums of January, NBC Sports will be battling the elements in both Detroit, which is under a weather advisory due to an approaching winter storm, and Kansas City, which expects to host one of the coldest games in NFL Playoff history. The temperature is expected to be around 0 F with a wind chill approaching -30 F (according to the National Weather Service) at kickoff on Saturday night. But the operations teams are prepared to confront the elements head on.

“The only issue I see, since we are sharing a few people with the Saturday game and the weather as unstable as it is, may [be] getting to Detroit for the Sunday game,” says Roche.

NEP ND1 fleet (A, B, C, and D units) are on hand at NRG Stadium in Houston.

With the regular season in the books and one last playoff game on the schedule next weekend, Roche says that, despite some unique challenges, the latest chapter in NBC’s NFL operational odyssey has been a successful one.

“SNF had a good season, with some unique challenges,” says Roche. “There were times in the season when we had to do a one-day set, and, for a show of our magnitude, that meant a lot of pre-planning. We are always sad to see our season end, but getting to the playoffs is great: one, that the season is almost over, and, two, knowing that we presented some of the best football TV to the millions of fans around the world.”