Live From Big East Men’s Tournament: FOX Sports Brings Back Pair of Live Drones for Second Year in a Row

The 20+-camera complement includes robotic super-slo-mo at each free-throw line

After making history last year at Madison Square Garden with the first in-arena live drone deployment on a college-basketball broadcast, FOX Sports is continuing to push the technological envelope at this week’s Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament. With two drones on hand courtesy of Beverly Hills Aerials, the FOX Sports production team is finding new ways to bring viewers inside the arena for one of college hoops’ most passionate and iconic events.

Part of FOX Sports onsite production team: (from left) Carlos Gonzalez, Doug Fuchs, and David Zulauf

“The Big East is very much on board with [flying the drone],” says Doug Fuchs, manager, field operations, FOX Sports, “so we’re trying to push the limits a bit here and be even more aggressive this year. And we’ve been getting some cool shots that I think [viewers] are going to love.”

In addition to the pair of drones, FOX’s 20+-camera complement includes an extended super-slo-mo robotic camera at each free-throw line and a variety of behind-the-scenes robos and POVs to capture the action inside MSG’s hallways as teams walk out to play.

Beverly Hills Aerials is flying two lightweight drones at MSG: a gimbal drone weighing less than 250 grams and powered by a 20-minute battery and a FPV drone weighing less than 100 grams with a three-minute battery providing lower, faster, more dynamic shots.

“This is our second year at the Garden for the Big East tournament,” says BHA Drone Operator Evan Turner. “We’ve cut the weight of the FPV drone in half compared to last year. It not only has gotten smaller but also [delivers] better quality in comparison to last year.”

Beverly Hills Aerials Drone Operator Evan Turner with the FPV drone at MSG

Operating the drone from one of the tunnels just off the court are a pilot wearing a head-mounted display; a producer, who oversees the operation and is in direct contact with the director at the front bench; and a spotter, who handles battery swaps and other logistics. As with any other aircraft, the pilot and his team must predetermine the flightpaths to ensure the safety of the thousands of fans in the stands.

“With the limited battery life,” says Turner, “we have to work with the director and producer to be surgical about planning shots, especially for the [FPV drone]. If they want to come out of break with us, we have to coordinate very closely with them to make it work. Communication is definitely one of the biggest parts of our job because not only are we dealing with the director and trying to provide shots that they want but [we also have] to make sure all the safety and security boxes are checked.”

Beverly Hills Aerials drone operators pilot a pair of drones at MSG.

With drone-camera technology continuing to advance, FOX has become more aggressive and creative in its efforts. For example, in a single shot, the FPV drone will fly just above each team coming out of the hallway onto the court and then fly around the entire arena.

“That’s a compelling perspective,” says Fuchs. “I know that our directors love it. It’s very cool to come out of the hallway and then lift up that way. It’s different from the look a Spidercam or Skycam gives you because [the drone has] more freedom to move. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like that before.”

Although live drones are being deployed more frequently for live sports productions these days — FOX Sports has successfully used them for NASCAR, USFL, MLB, and other events — getting the systems cleared to fly remains a heavy lift.

“It takes weeks, even months, of work on the permitting for the drone with MSG, Beverly Hills Aerials, and [New York City],” says Fuchs. “We work with them to make sure we do everything by the book and 100% following all the rules. It has taken a long time to get to where we are, but we couldn’t be more excited to have it here again.”

Beyond the Drones: Robos, POVs, Testing Out New Lenses and Wireless Cameras

With MSG adding new premium courtside seating, FOX nixed the RailCam system it had previously used at the Big East Tournament. Instead, it has deployed an extended super-slo-mo robotic camera at each free-throw line to capture similar looks from the floor.

NEP’s Fletcher Sports is providing these systems, along with Above-the-Rim robos on both baskets and a robo in the back hallway showing teams getting ready to take the floor. FOX also has two locked-off POV cameras in the back hallways and another POV for the ref to explain officiating calls.

FOX Sports has deployed more than 20 cameras for this year’s Big East Championship.

Canon has supplied a pair of new lenses to be tested out on FOX’s Big East operation. FOX is also trialing a new wireless camera system featuring a Sony HDC-3500 and relying on a CP Communications LTE/CBRS private network instead of traditional RF connectivity.

Fletcher is providing several robos at MSG, including this hallway system that captures behind-the-scenes shots of team walkouts.

On the Court, In the Compound: Game, Studio Production Teams Work Side-by-Side

The studio show is once again onsite for the entire tournament, with host Rob Stone and analysts Casey Jacobsen and Donny Marshall providing pre/postgame and bridge coverage. For each segment, the crew sets up a trio of tripod cameras and chairs for the talent on the court, removing it prior to play starting up again.

Game Creek Video Encore’s A, B, and C units are in the MSG compound, with the game and studio-show crews operating out of independent production-control rooms in the B unit.

Game Creek Video Encore once again houses FOX Sports production operations for the Big East Championship.

With wall-to-wall action across the four-day tournament, two crews share game-production responsibilities, led by directors Rich Russo and J. Bryan Lilley, respectively.

One notable change: In previous years, audio mixing for both the game and the studio show were handled by the A1 out of a single audio room. This year, Fox has broken out the studio mix in a separate audio-submix room.

“This way,” says Fuchs, “the studio show has more freedom to do preproduction and interviews, while the game audio can stay separate and focus on their own show. They both have a lot more agility and flexibility now.”

Also of note, for the second consecutive year, because MSG was booked with a Knicks game on Tuesday night, FOX and Game Creek used the Moonachie (NJ) Fire Department house (courtesy Video Operator 1 Chris Halloran, who serves as a volunteer firefighter there) for its set day.

Going Out on a High Note: Big East Tourney Ends Busy Season for College Hoops Team

This week marks the conclusion of a long season for FOX Sports’ College Hoops operations team, which has overseen 334 men’s and women’s games. In addition to the Big East Tournament, the broadcaster is producing the Big East Women’s Tourney in Connecticut and Pac-12 Men’s Tournament in Las Vegas.

“We do our best to manage our resources and equipment throughout the season by picking out bigger games when we can and, at the same time, maintaining balance,” says Sarita Meinking, executive director, field operations, FOX Sports. “We have great crew and vendors here who have been with us since the beginning. That makes it great to keep coming back to MSG. We try to give this tournament a big feel and continue to be innovative each year to bring the fans closer to such an iconic venue.”