SVG Year in Review: Our Most Read Stories, A Look Back at Paris 2024, and the Biggest Productions of the Year
Story Highlights
2024 is in the books and it marked yet another year of technological innovation in live-sports production. From altcasts and animated presentations to new cloud-based and virtual-production workflows, the past 12 months have been chock full of cutting-edge efforts by the sports-production community. Here’s a rundown of some of the highlights including our most read stories of the year, a spotlight on the Paris 2024 Olympics, and some of the other biggest productions in 2024.
The SVG Top Ten List: 2024 Edition
FOX Sports Takes Virtual Production to New Heights With Groundbreaking ‘Basilica of Soccer’ Set for EURO 24, Copa America
After launching groundbreaking studio projects in recent years with its NASCAR virtual studio in Charlotte, NC; LED-fueled FOX NFL Sunday studio in L.A.; and AR-powered 2022 FIFA World Cup set in Doha, FOX Sports is changing the game once again with a new 360-degree immersive XR studio environment for its coverage of the Euro 24 and Copa America. (Read more…)
NFL Playoffs 2024: Expecting Record Traffic, NBC’s Peacock Is Ready for First-Ever Streaming-Exclusive Playoff Game
A new era in the history of NFL broadcasting begins Saturday night when the Chiefs-Dolphins AFC Wild Card Game streams on Peacock, marking the the first NFL Playoff game to appear exclusively on a streaming service. The historic —and controversial — move puts plenty of pressure on both the league and NBC Sports, but both say they are ready for the challenge. (Read more…)
TNT Sports’ NBA 2K25 DataCasts Blur Line Between Videogame and Live Broadcast During Emirates NBA Cup
For more than a decade, countless sports-production leaders have opined about the need to make live broadcasts look more like videogames to attract a broader audience. Tonight, TNT Sports is making that vision a literal reality. In collaboration with NBA 2K and Genius Sports, TNT Sports will offer an immersive NBA 2K25 DataCast presentation at the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup. (Read more…)
NFL Kickoff 2024: NBC Sports Starts the Party with Thursday Night Opener; Adds Peacock-Exclusive Friday Night Game From Brazil
The NFL regular season opener is just the first in a stretch of three games in four nights for the NBC Sports team with a new International Game in Brazil on Friday night (exclusively on Peacock) followed the official Sunday Night Football opener. NBC Sports turned to EMG/Gravity Media to design a flypack to help handle the production in Brazil. (Read more…)
PGA TOUR Enters New Era of 1080p HDR Production With New Trucks

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This weekend marks the first major step in a new era of PGA TOUR golf production: nine state-of-the-art production trucks, built by NEP Group, will be onsite for CBS Sports, Golf Channel, and PGA TOUR LIVE for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. The trucks provide a consistent and stable production hub for PGA TOUR broadcast partners CBS/Paramount+, NBC/Golf Channel/Peacock, and ESPN+. (Read more…)
Super Bowl LVIII: CBS Sports Rolls Out 1080p HDR Production Workflow, Will Distribute 4K HDR Feed to Selected MVPDs
Producing Super Bowl LVIII in 1080p HDR was a year-long process of experimentation and new workflows, moving toward a production environment in which this year’s show is produced in 1080p HDR, upconverted to 4K HDR for select MVPDs and vMVPDs, and downconverted to 1080i SDR for mass delivery to viewers on CBS. (Read more…)
CFP National Championship 2024: ESPN Debuts New PylonCams, Establishes Almost Fully IP Compound
Tonight’s a milestone night in the history of college football. Not only does Monday’s clash between Michigan and Washington at Houston’s NRG Stadium mark the tenth championship game in the history of the College Football Playoff — the final one under a four-team format — in many ways; it’s a watershed moment for a sport on the verge of widespread realignment and postseason expansion. (Read more…)
Inside Look at the NHL’s Historic Live Cloud Production of an NHL Game, Alternate Broadcast
When it comes to pivotal moments in the history of the NHL, the evening of March 22 won’t be remembered for a milestone on the ice, but it will be remembered as the start of a new era of broadcasting. On that date, the league, with the help of AWS, made broadcast history with a completely cloud-based live production of the game between the Capitals and Hurricanes. (Read more…)
The Simpsons Funday Football: Inside the Tech That ESPN and the NFL Use To Bring Springfield to Life
The world of alternative broadcasts is expanding once again. Tonight, ESPN will roll outThe Simpsons Funday Football on Disney+, ESPN+, and NFL+ (mobile). SVG goes behind the scenes in Springfield (and Bristol) with in-depth coverage of every aspect of the production. (Read more…)
As NBC Sports Chicago Prepares To Sign Off for the Final Time, Here’s a Look Back at 20 Years of Excellence
This Sunday will mark the end of an era for Chicago sports television. NBC Sports Chicago, the local television home of Chicago Sports for the past two decades, will produce its final live broadcasts during the White Sox season finale against the Tigers Sunday afternoon. It will be the last of more than 6,000 live game productions and more than 9,000 live pre/postgame shows. (Read more…)
Paris 2024: Behind the Scenes With OBS, NBC, European Broadcasters, and More
While 2024 proved to be one of the most groundbreaking years in the history of sports-production, one event stood out from the rest: The Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Take a look back at SVG’s in-depth coverage of the work behind the scenes by Olympic Broadcast Services, NBC Sports, and dozens of other rightsholders from around the globe. (Read more…)
Behind the Scenes at the Biggest Events of 2024
- More On-Site Reports From Super Bowl LVIII With the NFL, CBS Sports, and More
- UEFA Champions League Final 2024: CBS Sports’ UCL Today Studio Show Is Pitchside at Wembley Stadium
- MLB at Rickwood Field: FOX Sports Celebrates Black Baseball With Special Broadcast in Birmingham
- Netflix Kicks Off NFL Christmas Games: Behind the Scenes With the Streaming Giant and Its Production Partners
- FOX NFL SUNDAY Heads to Naval Base San Diego; Helmetcam, Drone Set to Cover Gronk Taking a Leap into Pacific
- NBA Finals 2024: ESPN Rolls Out Skycam, Shallow Depth of Field, Live Drone in Both Boston and Dallas
- NFL Playoffs 2024: NBC Sports Trifurcates Ops as First Broadcaster To Produce Three NFL Playoff Games in a Single Weekend
- 148th Westminster Dog Show: FOX Sports Calls USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Home for Second Straight Year
- 2024 Daytona 500: FOX Sports Resurrects Gyrocam; Rolls Out Live Drone, Fingerworks Telestrator, Hawkeye 4K Extraction
- NFL Draft 2024: ESPN Motors Into Detroit With Trio of Simultaneous Live Presentations
- London Games Give MLB Network a Chance To Expand Game, Work Closely With BBC
- NBA All-Star 2024: TNT Sports To Deploy 120 Cameras Across Two Venues, Two Compounds
- THE PLAYERS Championship: PGA TOUR Lays Out Vision for New Media Facility
- NCAA Men’s Final Four: TNT Sports, CBS Sports Capitalize on Greater Freedom to Fly Live Drone Inside, Bring Back SkyCam
- NBC Sports Rolls Out 70 Cameras for U.S. Open Coverage; Producer Tommy Roy Says Graphics Play Big Part
- US Open: USTA Makes Leap to HDR; Rights Holders Expand Presence Across Grounds
More of Our Most Read Stories of 2024
- WWE 30,000-Sq.-Ft. Studio Complex Opens; Sony Verona LED Wall Is Deployed for Virtual Production
- Apple Vision Pro Launches With New Spatial App From PGA TOUR, Compatible Apps From MLB, MLS, NBA, and More
- Pac-12 Networks’ New Production Headquarters Is a Significant Step Forward in SMPTE ST 2110
- All Elite Wrestling Rolls Into Warner Bros. Discovery Era With New IP-based Mobile Unit
- Scripps Sports Constructs New Studio for Second Season of WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION
- NASCAR Kicks Off New Era of Remote Production With Rolex 24
- NHL and Prime Video Pull Back Curtain on Plans for Monday Night Hockey, Coast to Coast Whiparound Show, and FACEOFF Docuseries
- Thursday Night Football on Prime Video Continues to Push the AI Envelope With New Set of ‘Prime Insights’
- NBC Sports Regional Networks Debuts New Graphics Package, Launches Cloud-Based Graphics-Production Ecosystem
- Dunk The Halls: ESPN Refines Animated Altcast Tech and Ops with a Helping Hand From Mickey and Minnie
- FOX Sports’ Big Noon Kickoff Harmonizes Game Production With Roaming Studio Show to Offer Full Coverage on Saturdays
- NBC Sports’ Big Ten Saturday Night Making Its Mark In Crowded College Football Landscape
- Inside the Whirlwind Launch of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Broadcast Operations
- LIV Golf Touts ‘Any Shot, Any Time’ Viewing Experience; Adds Live Drone Tracer, New Storytelling Graphics
- Inside NBC Sports Chicago’s Alternative Animated Blackhawks Game Broadcast
- Inside Monumental Sports Network’s New ST 2110 Production Facility: A National-Network Feel at DC’s New RSN