SVG Sit-Down: St. Thomas’s Mike Gallagher and Casey Eakins on the Tommies’ Bold Leap to Division I and How Video Plays a Key Role
New control rooms, stunning centerhung in a new arena take the operation to new heights
Story Highlights
As the University of St. Thomas transitioned from NCAA Division III to Division I, it completed the most ambitious facilities project in its athletics history — the new Lee & Penny Anderson Arena — and its production team has grown in the process.
The Tommies’ broadcast operation now boasts dual control rooms, integrated IPTV, pro-level replay and videoboard systems, and a rapidly expanding student workforce that shoulders the bulk of the responsibility on all shows. SVG sat down with Mike Gallagher, assistant athletic director, branding, digital content, and production, and Casey Eakins, senior media production systems technician, ITS Central Engineering, University of St. Thomas, to unpack the build from the inside.
Gallagher arrived midway through the DIII-to-DI transition and has helped shepherd the program through videoboard upgrades, the school’s first streaming and linear-TV deals, and the launch of a $175 million multipurpose arena. Eakins — a St. Thomas alum who began working games as a student, helped plan early arena-systems meetings, and now helps engineer the finished facility — offers perspective from both sides of the transition.
In this conversation, they walk us through the early chaos of opening week, the technical decisions that mattered most, the role students play in powering the operation, and what it means to build a Division I broadcast ecosystem with long-term growth in mind.
University of St. Thomas’s Mike Gallagher (left) and Casey Eakins inside the main control room at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena (Photo: SVG)
You opened Lee & Penny Anderson Arena with five major events in roughly three weeks. What was that stretch like on the broadcast side?
Gallagher: This type of thing will happen a lot. We’ve got three different leagues — the WCHA, CCHA, and Summit League — all scheduling independently, all needing this building. The fact that we got through all five opening events and the women’s game on the second sheet in about three weeks is nothing short of a miracle.
As you began planning the production footprint, what was truly at the top of your wish list? What did you need this building to deliver?
Gallagher: To me, the biggest thing was being able to retain all the JBTs. It’s not sexy, but, behind the scenes, you can count on, specifically, Casey and our other engineers and rely on what you’re going to get [from the broadcast-signal connectivity boxes]. The flexibility was huge.
Eakins: The JBTs give us all the future expansion that we need. Adding more camera is easy. Anytime a truck comes in, we can confidently tell them, “You can be pretty much anywhere you want in here,” obviously within reason. Keeping all the JBTs was probably the biggest win.
What did it take to get the control rooms to the point where they could support simultaneous in-venue and broadcast shows?
Gallagher: We had a blueprint from the design team, but the second control room was never in that spec. We had to maneuver the quote, stay within budget, take X amount of dollars over here, and construct a second one over there to be able to do everything we’re doing. That flexibility was allowed to us, which I was very, very happy about.
One of the two new control rooms inside Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, used for both in-venue videoboard shows and livestreaming productions (Photo: St. Thomas Athletics)
Eakins: One thing I love is how the rooms sit above the ice. The monitors are on the wall with windows behind them, and, when you sit down, it’s the perfect line of sight — right at the videoboard and right into the crowd. After working in a closet-size control room before, it’s night and day.
St. Thomas runs every part of its shows — broadcast, stream, videoboard, fan engagement — often with the same camera complement. How do you manage that complexity?
Gallagher: These two rooms are listening to each other at all times. It’s intimidating at first, but, once you get reps, the flow becomes natural. We share all eight replay channels between both rooms. Communication is the big thing: making sure the broadcast director and in-venue director aren’t calling for different things at the same time.
How many students are involved? What does that model look like today?
Gallagher: It’s mostly students, probably 80%-85%. Tommy Athletic Productions was seven people when I got here. It’s around 50 now. The experience matters. We want it to be a place where people want to be, where they’re learning and developing.
Eakins: You’re doing fan cams, instant replay with bugs, live rotations — real stuff, not a simplified show. I work in-house with the Twins and have seen how pro venues do it. Being able to bring that here helps elevate the shows and teaches the students what the real world does.
Casey, you started as a student, and now you’re engineering the entire building. What has this journey meant to you?
Eakins: As an alum, it’s incredible. My father teaches here. I’ve been around St. Thomas for 15 years. I saw the end of Division III and the start of Division I. I was part of the announcement for this building, part of the early planning meetings. Then to stay full-time and help design and set up all these systems as a 24-year-old — I’ll never forget it. I’m super-fortunate and grateful.
Eleven junction boxes (JBTs) are sprinkled throughout the facility, giving the Tommie Athletic Productions team lots of flexibility for connectivity between sites. This JBT is located in the back of the arena’s broadcast booth. (Photo: SVG)
What obstacle are you most proud that the team overcame during this build?
Gallagher: You’re doing your day-to-day job while also building the biggest construction project, which is going to carry the university for 20 or 25 years. To not feel that weight is impossible. We had to work with so many third-party partners: electrical, cabling, systems we’d never used before. But everyone supported the project. Everyone trusted the effort and the knowledge. That made the obstacles feel smaller.
Eakins: Being on the IT side, the partnership between athletics and networking, service, and security grew during this project. Hundreds of devices, late nights, configs — you can’t do that unless everyone’s aligned. That partnership was huge.
Looking ahead, where does this arena take St. Thomas next?
Gallagher: This whole project is a microcosm of the DIII-to-DI jump. It has been a lot, but every step built toward this. And now we’re in a place that lets us compete — and produce — at the level we want to be.
Eakins: To see where this was and where it is now is incredible. It’s home. And it’s a home built for the future.
