NFL Draft 2024: ESPN Motors Into Detroit With Trio of Simultaneous Live Presentations

Longtime Ops Manager Steve Carter will bid farewell to the Draft after 22 years

What started as a humble little production at the New York Sheraton hotel 45 years ago has transformed into one of ESPN’s biggest, most opulent tentpole broadcasts. And the NFL Draft production — in Detroit this year — only continues to grow, offering three simultaneous live presentations on the first two nights. ESPN and ABC will provide fans two broadcast options, as they have done since 2019; new this year is a third option: The Pat McAfee Show Draft Spectacular streaming on YouTube, TikTok, and ESPN+.

On ESPN’s primary set inside the Draft Theater: (from left) Mel Kiper Jr., Booger McFarland, Louis Riddick, and Mike Greenberg

“It has been amazing to see how much this show has grown,” says Steve Carter, senior operations manager, ESPN, who will retire in May following his 22nd consecutive Draft production. “When I started, we were at the Theater at Madison Square Garden with just ESPN [as sole broadcaster], a single stage, and only two days — Saturday and Sunday. Then we went to Radio City Music Hall [in 2006]; NFL Network joined in, and we [grew] to three days [in 2010], but there was no more room to grow [at Radio City]. Once we got to Chicago [in 2015], it just blew up, and every year since has been unique and different.”

On the Set and in the Compound: Plenty of Trucks Onsite in the Motor City

ESPN’s primary set is located inside the NFL Draft Theater at Campus Martius Park; ABC College Game Day coverage will originate from Cadillac Square, just beyond the theater. On Saturday, ESPN’s coverage will originate from the ABC set for Rounds 4-7. Meanwhile, both The Pat McAfee Show and the Draft Spectacular are at the Detroit Ice Rink, adjacent to the ABC set.

The truck compound features both Game Creek and NEP trucks serving ESPN, NFL Media, Van Wagner, and C3 Presents

NFL Senior Insider Adam Schefter will have his own location near the ABC set, and ESPN College Football Reporter Molly McGrath (in her NFL Draft debut) will interview prospects on the main stage following their selection. Stationed in the green room, Reporter Laura Rutledge will interview prospects’ families following the selection. ESPN also has a set at the backup NFL Draft Theater location (in case of inclement weather) in the nearby One Campus Martius building.

“We’re not quite as spread out as we were [last year] in Kansas City so [our setup] can be a lot more compact,” Carter explains. “But it’s just as challenging, because every year you start with a blank piece of paper and have to build everything — sets, cameras, everything — from scratch based on where the NFL decides to put the theater . It’s different and unique every time, which is a big reason why I love this show so much.”

ESPN’s production compound, located at Greektown Parking adjacent to NFL Draft Theater, houses NEP EN1 (A, B, C, D, E units) for the main broadcast and NEP Supershooter 5 and ST5 to serve the ABC broadcast. The Pat McAfee Show Draft Spectacular production is relying on a Bexel flypack.

BSI is also onsite with its C3 and G5 mobile units to manage RF needs, and both The Switch and AT&T have transmission trailers onsite. Other ESPN trailers onsite include units dedicated to operations and signal routing.

Illumination Dynamics is providing redundant broadcast power via  through eight 180kw generator sets that are tied together. Additionally, ID is on-site to provide lighting and technical support for ABC and ESPN’s College Game Day sets.

ESPN’s NFL Live, College GameDay, and The Pat McAfee Show studio shows are being produced as live REMI productions out of control rooms in Bristol, CT. Because ESPN’s infrastructure allows full feed-sharing from every set, any studio stage onsite can be taken inside any truck in the compound with full tally, monitoring, returns, etc.

ESPN began running fiber between the compound and the sets, as well as for dozens of camera and audio drops, on Tuesday. Carter and his team worked in conjunction with NFL Network, the league’s events team, and Van Wagner to manage the complex process and ensure that all entities had the necessary connectivity.

“We brought in our fiber SWAT team,” Carter explains. “They walked the paths back in March and figured out the best way to get to the various spots. NFL Network has their show, of course, and Van Wagner does the house feed, so [the fiber SWAT team] does a lot of the interconnect. We all worked together and are sharing fiber across the different locations, which has been a big help.”

Full Arsenal of Video Sources in Detroit and Beyond

More than 50 cameras (primarily Sony HDC-5500’s and HDC-3500’s) have been deployed in Detroit to serve the ESPN, ABC, and Pat McAfee broadcasts.

BSI is providing 11 RF cameras: seven handhelds, two Sony HDC-P50 Steadicams, a Sony HDC-P1 on a MŌVI rig, and a Sony HDC-P50 on a DJI Ronin rig. In addition, it is supplying transmission for ESPN’s SupraCam two-point wired system flying overhead and a pair of drones providing aerial coverage.

Fletcher has rolled out six Sony HDC-P50 robos for ESPN’s show: two with 40X lenses on the main podium, one with a 14X lens atop the ABC College Game Day set, a reverse shot on the theater balcony, a left slash position inside the theater, and an eyebrow cam inside the theater.

ESPN has also laid extensive fiber for a pair of beauty cams atop the nearby Qube building (previously known as Chase Tower). Each camera is equipped with full Vizrt Trackmen virtual-broadcast-graphics capabilities. In addition, two drones are flying.

Carter estimates that ESPN shares 20-25 feeds with NFL Network and Van Wagner, including Van Wagner’s four-point cable system above the green room and NFL Network’s mainstage robo, main jib, and JitaCam.

A DynamiCam 4-Point has been deployed in the Green Room

“The podium camera will come from Van Wagner,” says Carter, “but we’ll still put two robos up there so that both Game Day and ESPN have independent control from the podium. When there’s a pick, we’ll take the podium camera from Van Wagner, but the robos will be able to grab other shots of interest from the stage that they may want to use.”

In addition to the numerous video sources in Detroit, ESPN’s production team will have access to all 32 teams’ Draft Rooms at their respective headquarters, as well as feeds from top prospects’ homes. Also, six reporters will be stationed at team facilities across the country to provide immediate reaction from team Draft Rooms.

“All those feeds will go into the big IP router in EN1 and subrouted to the monitor walls for production,” Carter explains. “Obviously, [the production team] can’t handle 60-plus feeds at once, so we subroute those feeds as single sources to [individual] monitors depending on which team has the next pick. We have two people — one for the ABC side, one for the ESPN side — that will handle all that subrouting.”

Running herd on all this are key members of the operations team. For ESPN’s NFL Draft: in addition to Carter, Jack Coffey, Joe Rainey, BJ Smith, Kevin Cleary, Terry Cook, Tommy Mitchell, Sam Majewski, Sascha Ford, and Meredith Fenwick. For ABC College Game Day: Luther Fisher, Danny Reifert, Matt Bagan, Mark Mignini, and Leah Morgenstern. For The Pat McAfee Draft Spectacular: Jayne Weathersby, Mitch Workman, and Sara Hair.

Reflecting on a Draft Legacy: It’s All About the People

When the Draft comes to a close on Saturday afternoon, it will mark the end of an era for ESPN’s NFL operations team. Carter, the longtime Monday Night Football operations stalwart and NFL Draft vet, will call it a career after more than two decades at the helm.

“I love working on the NFL, and this is a great event,” he says. “But I’m definitely going to miss working with the people more than anything else. This is such a talented and tight-knit crew. My job is just to set them free and let them do their jobs because I know they’re going to get it done no matter how challenging it is or much work it takes. It’s certainly tiring, but it’s just as rewarding. I couldn’t be prouder of this entire team, and I’m going to miss every single person here.”