NBA Playoffs 2024: ESPN Rolls Out Huge Production Operation for Busy First Round

Tech deployments include miked on-field personnel, shot-distance tracking, AR graphics

ESPN’s production operations for this year’s NBA Playoffs are as big as ever, with a dozen mobile units and 350+ crew members traversing the country over the next two months. The effort began last week with the Play-In Tournament and continues with the first round of the playoffs, for which ESPN will deploy more than 90 cameras and 624 replay channels across its various broadcasts. In addition, it will have miked-up players/coaches/refs, shot-distance tracking  on selected games, and AR graphics across the board.

“[Our coverage] will include the latest in technology and production trucks to enhance the storytelling [for what] should be a very compelling first round of the playoffs,” says David Roberts, head of event and studio production, ESPN. “The technology will be there: live access with player and coaches miked up [and] cameras in the locker room, so fans won’t miss anything. Working with our partners at the NBA, we put ourselves in a great position for the very best in storytelling.”

Managing a Logistical Nightmare To Create a Storyteller’s Dream

Of course, the logistics behind that storytelling are immense, especially given ESPN’s operations team is tasked with covering dozens of playoff games during one of the industry’s busiest times of year.

“As exciting as it is to take NBA into the postseason, staffing crews for these games, with concurrent NHL postseason and MLB regular season, has been a challenge,” says ESPN Manager, Field Operations, NBA, Shane Smith, in his first year in that role. “I’m blessed to be surrounded by experienced people who natively know the idiosyncrasies and nuances of arenas, teams, and our NBA relationships.”

ESPN’s ops-management team works closely with the crewing and production departments to ensure that core crews stay with their directors throughout the NBA Playoffs.

ESPN’s ops-management team works closely with the crewing and production departments to ensure that core crews stay with their directors throughout the playoffs. To cover the opening-weekend playoff games on ABC, for instance, ESPN booked a series of sprinter vans to move crews quickly from New York City to Boston.

When upcoming coverage depends on the outcome (such as during the NBA Play-In Tournament last week), during games, Smith and his field-operations team conduct open-ended Zooms with their programming and production counterparts to discuss all possibilities in real time. “It’s like a work watch party,” he says. “As decisions are made, we disseminate them with a mix of Smartsheet updates and emails; and there are lots of us who still like to pick up the phone.”

To cover first-round games, ESPN is deploying a mix of NEP and Game Creek Video mobile units, with NEP EN3 and GCV Spirit and Varsity serving as the core.

“We use these core trucks during the season with installed ESPN network gear,” says Smith, “but the volume of playoff games requires us to stretch out with some new ones. For the new trucks, we have specific rolling network packages that get shipped in, and we often add set days to get the system humming like it should.”

All of ESPN’s NBA Playoffs broadcasts will be REMCO (remote-control) productions. Graphics and some EVS operators will be located in Bristol, CT, control rooms while the rest of the team operates out of the onsite truck.

Plenty of Tech Toys: Cameras, Shot-Tracking, AR Graphics

ESPN is deploying eight manned cameras for each first-round game, including one super-slo-mo for ESPN games and two for ABC games. Two robos and several POV cameras will be distributed throughout the venues. For home and away shows, ESPN typically shares feeds with the respective RSNs. Camera and equipment levels will increase as the playoffs progress, culminating at the NBA Finals with colossal productions expected to include Skycam and other specialty systems.

ESPN is working with SMT to add shot-distance tracking to some first- and second-round games. This has been an ongoing project, with the NBA partnering with Hawk-Eye Innovations to provide data to broadcast partners. During the NBA Playoffs, as players shoot, SMT is providing shot-distance graphics based on data gathered by Hawk-Eye.

“The trick with introducing new elements as a broadcaster,” says Smith, “is how to do it in a way that serves the game and is genuinely interesting to viewers at home. We always talk about football’s yellow line as the gold standard, and this shot-distance tracking is kind of like that: it’s there, and it’s interesting for fans, but it doesn’t get in the way of the game.”

Augmented-reality graphics will once again play a major role in ESPN’s NBA Playoffs productions. Every game opener features a complex moving mixed-reality cinematic graphic element. Often, games start with a preproduced open that peels away in strips with mixed-reality 3D imaging revealing, for example, a drifting aerial live shot of fans in the stands framed for in-motion 3D graphics hovering above the crowd.

“My favorite tech for the finals has always been the virtual-reality–graphics game openers,” says Smith. “These advanced transitions are genuinely fun to watch and portray true NBA Finals excitement in a fresh way.”

Looking Back: PIT, Regular Season Set the Stage for Playoff Success

Prior to the first round, ESPN broadcast three games for the Play-In Tournament, covering Philadelphia, Chicago, and Miami with NEP EN3, GCV Spirit, and GCV Celtic + B2, respectively.

“The project came together quickly after games concluded on April 14,” notes Smith. “We had trucks moving fast to either get staged in central cities or hustle up to their destination. Both truck companies really stuck with us, adding engineers and pivoting plans to make it all happen.”

ESPN presented another edition of its NBA Unplugged With Kevin Hart altcast on ESPN2 for the Heat–76ers game on April 17. The broadcaster will deliver more of these NBA-focused, star-studded alternative presentations (co-produced by ESPN, Omaha Productions, and Hartbeat, starring actor/comedian Kevin Hart and the Plastic Cup Boyz) on selected games throughout the playoffs.

“For these altcasts,” says Smith, “we had a dedicated camera, comms, and extra transmission lines. This format is tried-and-true and has become a routine deployment ops-wise, but it’s a great way to add some notoriety to each game.”

Although this is Smith’s first year managing NBA ops, he has been part of the onsite team for years and is well-aware of both “the good times and the grind” that goes into producing a package on the scale of the NBA Playoffs.

“[ESPN Senior Remote Operations Specialist] Eddie Okuno’s name is synonymous with NBA,” says Smith, “so having him as my tech partner has been awesome. Our ops teams and departmental partners often step in to remind me of things I forgot or brainstorm on new ways to handle issues, so we support each other really well. This is a great team to work with, and I’m sincerely thankful for all the work they do.”