The worldwide leader in sports has a big task in setting up and broadcasting the NBA’s return to play. The Olympics-type effort offers new views of the game.
LeBron James had just exited a Mickey Mouse-decorated bus last week when the superstar’s arrival for that night’s Lakers game was spotted by Camera 50, one of the nearly 100 remote-operated cameras stationed around Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
In the truck, a replay was queued up after the dunk. Then another. Viewers watching on regional networks in Memphis and Salt Lake City saw them seconds later.The NBA and its players weren’t sure when they’d see highlights like this again while stuck in limbo for four months because of COVID-19. But they understood that the success of any restart plan would require adapting to the pandemic’s new reality — one location, daily testing, fewer staffers, more logistical hurdles.
Before the pandemic, ESPN produced a typical NBA game from one truck, with up to 10 people working snugly within its largest compartment. In the restart compound, there are 13 trucks — two per network per arena, as a means of spreading out workers now divided by plastic shields. They are surrounded by 31 office trailers, 20 generators that supply all of the site’s power, two catering tents and red Coca-Cola machines offering free mid-shift pick-me-ups.
Visiting the Wide World of Sports Complex during the summer was nothing new for Mark Jones, who has called games for ESPN since 1990. As a father to a basketball-playing family, he’d watched countless games within the venues. He knew the bubble’s strict health and safety protocols would alter some elements of his job. Play-by-play teams no longer work courtside, within breathing distance of the players, because commentators live just outside of the bubble.
The new toys at ESPN’s disposal have led the broadcasting giant to walk a fine line during its broadcasts. As much as they want to incorporate the new elements, they don’t want to upset viewers accustomed to the way broadcasts were before, Shiffman said. “There are some real, good unique things about this,” Jones said. “It’s something that’s made me more aware of the sound that’s available to us and I think it’s great.”“This is still the players’ place of work,” Shiffman said. “I think the mix we’ve landed on is the appropriate mix. It brings fans a bit closer to the players but again, we want to respect their privacy.
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