OS Studios’ Busy NBA All-Star Weekend To Be Followed by eMLS Cup Production

The esports producer will deploy REMI workflow for eMLS operation

OS Studios produced several events at the NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, Feb. 16-18 and is preparing to broadcast from the eMLS Cup at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX, March 9-10.

In its fourth year as broadcast partner for eMLS, the esports-production company will deploy the REMI production model, transmitting from the eMLS Cup to its New York facilities for the first time. EMLS is the “culmination of the season,” notes Lydia Pendergrass, head of broadcast operations, OS Studios.

‘New Style of Broadcasting G League Next Up Game’  

OS Studios’ busy NBA All-Star Weekend started Feb. 16 at the Indianapolis Convention Center, with the NBA 2K League Showdown, built around Take-Two Interactive’s NBA 2K videogame series. The AT&T Roadshow, featuring YourRageGaming (with special guest Paul George), followed on Feb. 17 at Irsay YMCA, and the G League Next Up Game took place Feb. 18 at the convention center.

“This is a new style of broadcasting this basketball game,” says Pendergrass, “with influencers as general managers and an IRL ‘2K League Camera’ [providing] a view that exists only in the videogame.”

OS Studios’ Megan Kuhlenschmidt: With the IRL 2K League Camera, “we were excited to use some camera magic and clever directing to give audiences a fresh perspective”

The Next Up Game “was an event of many firsts for the G League,” notes Megan Kuhlenschmidt, director, live production, broadcast and experiential, OS Studios. “The game featured a new tournament-style format: each team had its own influencer general manager, who drafted their squad, customized their teams’ jersey, and streamed the game on their own digital platforms.”

The event was streamed live on nbagleague.com, the G League App, the NBA G League’s YouTube channel, the NBA app, and co-streamed on the individual digital platforms of the team’s general managers, Kuhlenschmidt notes.

College basketball player Austin Mills was among those selected as general managers. “We sent them the game camera,” says Kuhlenschmidt, “and they streamed their commentary over it on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.

“This is a new way for people to watch,” she continues, “and, most important, to interact with traditional sports, which we believe leads to greater connection in these communities and can truly help draw in new fans and keep engaging the existing ones.”

With the IRL 2K League Camera, Kuhlenschmidt adds, the “goal was to bring in elements that we know gaming audiences love in the virtual realm and bring them to life in the physical realm. As any fan of NBA2K knows, the sweeping shots looking down the court provide a great viewing perspective and aren’t used widely in traditional sports broadcasting right now. We were excited to use some camera magic and clever directing to achieve this and give audiences a fresh perspective.”

OS Studios produced the NBA 2K League Indy Showdown during NBA All-Star festivities in Indianapolis.

Friday’s NBA 2K League Indy Showdown, meanwhile, marked the first time the NBA 2K League could feature professional NBA players on the broadcast, according to Kuhlenschmidt.

“We ended up having seven pros come through as guests on the broadcast, including All-Stars Tyrese Haliburton and Tyrese Maxey, who served as team captains,” she notes. “It was a blast watching the teams act out charades, play trivia, and, of course, test their skills alongside the 2K League pros. This show was a great blend of a traditional game show meets gaming culture, and a perfect example of how OS can blend lines across multiple demographics to create memorable experiences.”

The event represented the third year that OS Studios has produced the AT&T Roadshow, which comprises three stops per year/series. “The stop at Irsay YMCA was the third and final stop for this year,” Pendergrass says, noting that it was a closed event, hosted by YourRageGaming and CashNasty.

“OS brought a combination of basketball challenges that took place on one court of the YMCA, with gaming challenges as well that took place on an adjacent court,” Pendergrass adds. It featured celebrities Cam Wilder, ZackTTG, D’Vontay Friga, and YPK Raye competing in basketball challenges, King of the Court, and a dunk contest judged by L.A. Clippers forward Paul George.

Players also competed in a one-quarter NBA 2K24 game against NBA 2K League Pistons GT player Ant. The winner of cumulative points from the competition won a pair of custom shoes signed by George.

REMI Offers Efficiencies for eMLS Cup

The esports and gaming property of Major League Soccer and built around the Electronic Arts (EA) Sports FC Pro videogame franchise, eMLS will be produced via REMI.

OS Studios’ Lydia Pendergrass: OS is “always looking toward new technology to bring to our projects to create efficiencies, and that includes workflow models.”

“OS is no stranger to the REMI model,” says Pendergrass, noting, “We have an amazing studio and control-room space in New York and love to utilize it as much as possible.”

But expanding the use of REMI to the eMLS Cup “opens up many more capabilities for us to handle,” she says, “especially when working in event spaces around an event such as SXSW. Moving to a REMI model in this case not only is more cost-effective but creates time efficiencies as well. Less crew are required onsite, with a lot of the lift [handled] in the control room. There is also less time required onsite to set up transmission, cameras, audio, etc. because the back of house for production is significantly lower.”

Pendergrass adds that OS is “always looking toward new technology to bring to our projects to create efficiencies and that includes workflow models.”

This is the third straight year that the eMLS Cup will take place at SXSW. The eMLS Cup Group Stage is scheduled for March 8, and the final knockout rounds will be in front of an audience at ACL Live at the Moody Theater in Austin on March 10.