MLB 2024: MLB Network Showcase Opts for Secaucus-Based Remote Production

The league’s production arm marks 15th-anniversary season with packed schedule

The 2024 MLB regular season begins today, and, with storylines galore around the league, the Casamigos Tequila MLB Network Showcase schedule will once again offer 26 games. Besides providing services and infrastructure for four international series, production and operations for Apple TV’s third season of Friday Night Baseball, and studio programming at tentpole events like MLB at Rickwood Field on June 20 and MLB All-Star at Globe Life Field in mid July, MLB Network is deploying a Secaucus, NJ-based remote-production model that relies on the onsite trucks and personnel of the clubs’ regional sports networks.

“Jason [Hedgcock, senior director, remote technical operations, MLB Network] and his team have been incredibly innovative and came up with this workflow to ensure the success of our [international] broadcasts,” says Susan Stone, SVP, operations and engineering, MLB Network. “[This workflow] is how we’ll be handling Showcase this year.”

Green-Lighted: New Workflow Refined on MLB Dominican Republic, Seoul Series

MLB Network’s revamped remote-production model was first used for Red Sox vs. Rays during the MLB Dominican Republic Series March 9-10.

MLB Network’s live game coverage on Opening Day begins with the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers at 4 p.m. ET, but the production method used to distribute the game was tested earlier this month. The 30 clubs and their respective RSNs were in full swing throughout March with Spring Training games, but four teams — Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres — played two games in other countries.

The most notable matchups, the March 20-21 MLB Seoul Series featuring two National League West rivals, put the reimagined remote-production strategy to the test to serve the needs of PADRES.TV, Spectrum SportsNet LA, and ESPN in the U.S. and TV Asahi and NHK abroad. Building on that experience, the setup features a flypack sending feeds from trucks of the home-team RSN to Secaucus, an onsite Dante system for audio, and cloud-based BitFire software. (In South Korea, instead of a flypack, the team used a renovated 30- x 8-ft. shipping container positioned outside Gocheok Sky Dome.)

“We wanted to utilize the robust facilities that we have available in our studios,” Hedgcock explains. “We took a raw MADI feed and video feeds from the host truck, but we didn’t need to take the host truck offline while faxing for our show. We developed a system that allows us to give all our rightsholders their own program feeds, and comms were unique to each network.”

The remote workflow went overseas to help ESPN, PADRES.TV, and Spectrum SportsNet LA during the MLB Seoul Series March 20-21.

The workflow was initially tested on the Red Sox–Rays’ matchup during the March 9-10 MLB Dominican Series. The games were available to fans across the nation on MLB Network, but Boston-area fans were able to view them on NESN. During these exhibition games, video signals from NESN were used to remotely produce the domestic feed from Secaucus. A similar workflow was also used for games played at Taichung International Baseball Stadium in Taiwan during the 2023 World Baseball Classic. For the highly anticipated MLB Seoul Series, the turnaround time was quite impressive despite the nearly 7,000-mile distance between the stadium and the MLB Network facility.

“It was a big effort to reduce latency to be sub–2-second round trip for elements coming from South Korea to the U.S. and back,” says Hedgcock. “Our [remote] comms was no different from how they are inside an onsite mobile unit. In fact, the show director for PADRES.TV sat in the shipping container in Seoul and was able to direct his team in their dedicated mobile unit that was parked at Petco Park in San Diego.”

Going Remote: RSN Trucks, MLBN Flypack Sends Feeds to Secaucus

After the two successful international series, MLB Network is relying on this workflow for its entire Showcase schedule. Instead of deploying this model for a world-feed production for international rightsholders, however, MLB Network will leverage the onsite mobile units of each team’s RSN or the infrastructure of MLB Local Media for games featuring the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, and Padres. This iteration of the workflow builds off the one deployed during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

Marking “Baseball Eve,” the MLB Network team in Secaucus, NJ, produced nine studio shows in one day on March 27.

“Remote workflows have increased greatly since the pandemic,” notes Hedgcock, “but something that needs improving is making those workflows replicable for the whole season. [The industry] sort of rushed into it, but, now that we’ve had time to digest and refine things, we had to make the user experience palatable without crushing the home-show truck. Working hand in hand with our broadcast partners, we’ll look to combine the video and audio feeds in the most efficient and timely manner possible.”

The biggest change from COVID-era productions is that all talent, including play-by-play announcers and analysts, will be in the booth at each ballpark. For Cardinals–Dodgers, this means that play-by-play announcer Bob Costas, analyst Dan Plesac, and reporter Jon Morosi will be at Dodgers Stadium on Thursday afternoon. Besides the main announce team, a handful of veteran talent will be used throughout the year, including Matt Vasgersian and Tom Verducci.

“With the broadcast talent that we have, I think it’s important to have them onsite,” explains Chris Pfeiffer, VP, live events, MLB Network. “It’s a stacked lineup where we’ll look to move in other voices into the booth.”

The 10-camera show will send eight camera feeds and two iso cameras from every ballpark. MLB Network’s Ballpark Cam, an annual staple, will return for real-time views of all 30 stadiums. Dedicated camera feeds in Secaucus will be rerouted to the booth to give the talent a variety of views of the action.

Nine Shows in One Day: Studio Programming Highlights Breadth of Content

Mark DeRosa (left), Lauren Shehadi (center), and Robert Flores kick off the 10th season of MLB Central.

Setting the stage for a massive 2024 Opening Day, the studios and control rooms in Secaucus were extremely busy yesterday with MLB Network’s “Baseball Eve” slate of programming. Nine studio shows aired in a single day. Legacy programs included MLB Central with Mark DeRosa, Robert Flores, and Lauren Shehadi; MLB Now with Brian Kenny; and High Heat with Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo and Alanna Rizzo. Newer shows included Off Base with Lauren Gardner, Xavier Scruggs, and Ariel Epstein. New this season, three-time All-Star and 2006 World Series champion Adam Wainwright will be both in the studio and behind the mic in the booth for selected games. The inclusion of Wainwright, the return of four-time Manager of the Year Buck Showalter as a studio analyst, and the diversity of studio shows are getting fans excited for what’s to come on the field.

“We have something out there for everybody,” says Stone. “That has been our calling card over the years. [Baseball Eve] is our building block leading up to the season.”

Returning for its third season, Big Inning with Matt Yallof and Gregg Caserta will take fans around the league on Saturdays. An NFL RedZone-style show, the program will be moved from a voiceover booth to Studio G in Secaucus.

“It has become an important show to us,” adds Stone. “Being available on MLB.TV and weeknights on Apple TV+, it has been a big success.”

Alanna Rizzo (left) speaks with Steve Phillips on High Heat.

The studio team will be hitting the road for onsite editions on important dates on the MLB calendar, including MLB at Rickwood Field and MLB All-Star. The latter has turned into a massive undertaking with production of the MLB Draft and the MLB All-Star Red Carpet Show, but, with a marquee game at a venue that has had a lasting impact on the history of professional baseball, the network is looking forward to showcasing Rickwood Field to viewers at home.

“We’ve been talking about MLB at Rickwood Field for a while,” says Stone. “There’s a lot more planning and a lot of details that need to be worked out, but we’re pumped to be out there like we were for MLB at Field of Dreams.”

Quinceañera: MLB Network Looks Back on 15 Years of Innovation

For fans across the country, the viewing experience was forever changed with the introduction of MLB Network on New Year’s Day 2009. Originally built around a replica field in Studio 42 and the premiere of Hot Stove at 6 p.m. on Jan. 1, the network has blossomed into the go-to destination for all things baseball. A lot of the ancillary content that fans have become accustomed to wasn’t common at the time of launch. Over the last 15 years, the network has televised a ton of extra content throughout the year, including live coverage of the MLB Draft Combine, MLB Draft, MLB All-Star Red Carpet Show, the MLB Trade Deadline, MLB Winter Meetings, the last day of the MLB regular season, and results for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the All-MLB Team, and the end-of-year Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) Awards.

“[Hot Stove] took us eight to 10 hours to get that show ready to go during the first couple of months,” Stone recalls. “Now we’re at a place where we start at 9 a.m. ET and go until the last out on the West Coast with Quick Pitch. The creativity that our production team brings to the table and how our engineering team keeps moving us forward is pretty outstanding.”

Launched on Jan. 1, 2009, MLB Network is celebrating its 15th-anniversary season in 2024.

From a technological perspective, the industry has advanced far since MLB Network’s debut. HD has turned into 4K, SDI baseband has become IP, and full onsite has turned into a hybrid with a sprinkling of remote workflows. As the league’s hub of production and content, the network is always expanding.

“We’ve been working within the same facility for 15 years,” says Hedgcock. “Since we run a 24/7 network, the biggest testament to how we operate is that we’re still looking to make upgrades. Whether it’s producing MLB Network Showcase and supporting our broadcast partners or creating studio programming for MLB at Rickwood Field, we wouldn’t be able to do anything if we weren’t able to innovate and keep up with the constantly changes that happen every year.”

After Opening Day, Casamigos Tequila MLB Network Showcase will continue throughout April with three games: San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, April 3 at 10 p.m.; Baltimore Orioles vs. Boston Red Sox on Thursday, April 11 at 7 p.m.; and Texas Rangers vs. Atlanta Braves on Saturday, April 20 at 7 p.m.