ESPN Bulks Up Onsite Studios, Cameras, Player Mics for WNBA All-Star Weekend

Besides the game, four studio shows will be produced onsite

Despite the absence of the league’s biggest star, ESPN is pulling out all the stops for its coverage of the WNBA All-Star Weekend beginning tonight in Indianapolis.

The broadcaster will pack Gainbridge Fieldhouse with 26 cameras and deploy several player mics to add an extra layer of access to its coverage of tonight’s WNBA Skills Challenge and WNBA STARRY 3-Point Contest (8 p.m. ET on ESPN) and Saturday’s AT&T WNBA All-Star Game (8:30 p.m. on ABC and, for the first time, streaming live on Disney+ and ESPN+). In addition, ESPN has rolled out a sizable onsite studio presence to lend a big-event feel to its coverage of the festivities.

“We want to surround our biggest games and events with onsite studio shows,” says Jarrett Baker, senior manager, remote operations, ESPN. “The energy in the arena elevates our coverage. An additional day of onsite content is a layup once the technical resources and crew are in place.”

ESPN is deploying 26 cameras for WNBA All-Star festivities at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis this weekend.

With ESPN’s REMCO production model in place, the graphics team, Libero telestration operator, and three of the seven EVS operators are working remotely at the broadcaster’s Bristol, CT facility. With REMCO productions, communications between the replay, graphics and telestration teams in Bristol and the production team onsite become extremely important.

“The REMI comms specialists work diligently to make sure those lines of communication are solid,” explains Jeff McGuire, supervisor, REMI operations, ESPN. “It adds to the magic of TV when you know that the game is in Indianapolis and our graphics, telestrations, and many of the replays are coming from Bristol.

“Our Bristol-based REMCO staff,” he continues, “love contributing to the WNBA and bringing our viewers the players, moments, and stories that make this league special. The bright lights of All-Star Weekend only strengthen that excitement.”

ESPN’s production in Indy is on par with its regular-season complement for ABC broadcasts, with several additional iso cameras on the game side. The most noticeable difference is the robust studio presence, with SportsCenter, WNBA Countdown, Hoop Streams, and Vibe Check produced onsite.

F&F GTX-19 A and B and B19 are in the compound at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. GTX-19, which will be ESPN’s core truck for the remainder of the WNBA season, is handling game coverage, and B19 houses the studio programming. Redundant compound power with inline UPS protection is provided by Saunders Electric.

The studio switcher is a 2 M/E Grass Valley Korona panel attached to the second suite of the Kayenne K Frame switcher in GTX-19. In addition, the audio team has two Calrec Brio console surfaces — one for studio, one for game submix —networked to the main Apollo console in GTX-19.

F&F GTX-19 A and B and B19 are on hand to produce the WNBA All-Star Game and studio programming.

“Our team is intimately familiar with Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and the staff here is tremendous,” says Baker. “We have produced three WNBA games at the venue leading into the All-Star Weekend. We parked on July 11 to install our REMCO support equipment before the Dallas vs. Indiana game on Sunday, July 13, and the trucks were able to stay in place for the All-Star Game.”

Of course, ESPN was recently at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for another major pro-hoops event during the Indiana Pacers NBA Finals run.

“The All-Star Game compound is much smaller than what was required for the NBA Finals; everything is inside the loading dock instead of two blocks away,” notes Baker. “We were given access to multiple back-of-house areas as well, which is crucial for our studio-production groups to be successful.”

Although the event is drastically different from the NBA Finals, that event did help ESPN identify the best location for its WNBA Countdown set. “We originally planned for it to be positioned in one of the upper levels of the stadium bowl,” he says. “But we pivoted to the Atrium because of its electric atmosphere during the NBA Finals.”

In addition to ESPN’s own onsite studio programming, Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts is broadcasting live from Indianapolis today to tip-off AT&T WNBA All-Star 2025 from Morris Bicentennial Plaza. “You know an event is big when Robin Roberts is onsite,” says Baker. “We are thrilled that GMA is here, and they are managing all their onsite needs directly with the local organizing committee.”

ESPN will be covering All-Star Weekend with 26 cameras. Of them, 20 will be dedicated to on-court action: six hards (one running in 4X super-slo-mo), five cabled handhelds (one in 4X, one in 6X super-slo-mo), one RF handheld, one RF MōVI shallow–depth-of-field rig, two above-the-rim robos, and five Marshalls. In addition, ESPN has deployed four cameras on its Gainbridge Fieldhouse Atrium set (three studio build-ups and one jib), and two studio build-ups at its on-court set for SportsCenter and game wraps.

ESPN and ABC coverage will feature extensive player access throughout the weekend, including additional in-game interviews and players’ wearing microphones during the action.

NEP Specialty Capture (formerly Fletcher) is providing all robos and Marshall cameras. Lighting, terminal gear, and primary RF audio are supplied by NEP Rentals (formerly Bexel), and CP Communications is handling RF camera links and RF comms. Faction Media Group supplied the MōVI camera and operator, Jaybird Jibs is supporting the studio jib, and West River Light & Sound is onsite for staging and PA support in the Atrium.

WNBA Countdown will broadcast from a set in the Atrium at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The robust camera and audio complement reflects the league’s growing popularity, and ESPN continues to bulk up its WNBA productions accordingly.

“It’s rewarding to see the ongoing growth of the WNBA on ESPN networks,” says Baker. “We don’t take this audience expansion for granted. Our team is constantly thinking about how we can improve our execution to meet the moment.”

Here are key personnel for this year’s WNBA All-Star Game production:

Onsite operations: SVP, Content Operations, Chris Calcinari; Senior Director Dennis Cleary; Senior Manager Jarrett Baker; Operations Specialist Jake Mankin; Operations Producer BJ Smith; Senior Operations Producer Traci Flohr; Senior Operations Producer Kristianna Bryant; Senior Operations Coordinator David Quintanilla; Operations Coordinator Renée Greenwood; and Operations Coordinator Briana Peters

REMCO operations: Supervisor Jeff McGuire and Technical Operations Manager Marissa Bonertz

Bristol support: Crewing Supervisor Paula Grahame, Crewing Coordinator Sam Robuccio, Remote Traffic Operations Manager Daryl Timothy, Senior Remote Traffic Operations Coordinator Hector Hernandez, Senior Mobile Unit Operations Coordinator Vicki DiTolla, Mobile Unit Operations Specialist Pete Wychulis, Resource Scheduling Manager Laurie Niziolek, and Senior Resource Coordinator Angel Padilla

Onsite production: Coordinating Producer Kate Leonard; Coordinating Producer Rodney Vaughn; VP, Production, Hilary Guy; Managing Producer Jodi Denk; Production Manager Elizabeth Hembekides; Producer Ian Gruca; Producer Paul Ervin; Supervising Director Rodney Perez; Director Adam Bryant, and Director Chris Scott

Tonight, ESPN will televise the Kia WNBA Skills Challenge and the WNBA STARRY 3-Point Contest at 8 p.m. ET. Tomorrow, the 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game will air live on ABC in primetime for the third consecutive year and will, for the first time, stream live on Disney+ and ESPN+.