As video displays, cameras, and other technology become incresingly more advanced, football fans are reaping the rewards. Bigger, brighter in-stadium displays, better camera angles for multiple views of replays keep stadium visitors fixed on every second of the game. Whether they’re sitting at a prime position near the 50-yard line or perched near the rafters in the nosebleed section, visitors of the M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, are getting a great view of the NFL action, thanks to a major renovation of the stadium’s control room.
Part of a $120 million investment to improve the in-stadium fan experience, and handled by the integration team at BeckTV, the renovated control room supports a centralized production of RavensVision in-game content and promos distributed across the two main video boards; all ribbons, corner boards, and concourse video boards; and all concourse and suite displays.
“The Ravens have always been on the forefront of experimenting with and adopting new technology,” says Jay O’Brien, vice president of broadcasting and game day productions for the Baltimore Ravens. “The solutions we’ve deployed within our new control room enhance our creativity and effectively eliminate any technical control barriers. With much-improved speed and flexibility in presenting video, graphics, game stats, NFL scores and highlights, and fantasy stats, we can provide our fans with a rich viewing experience.”
The new control room at M&T Bank Stadium supports new 4K UHD video displays that doubled the width of the stadium’s previous standard HD boards and equal the highest resolution and clearest picture of any stadium video display in the United States. With a game day team that likewise has doubled in size, the production team for the Ravens takes full advantage of additional cameras and camera locations, updated replay and graphics systems, and additional engineering stations to enrich the on-screen product.
The control room project included the installation of Ross Acuity switchers and graphics systems, Sony 4K cameras, Panasonic 4K outdoor PTZ cameras, Wave Central wireless cameras, an Evertz 4K Dreamcatcher replay system, and Evertz EXE IP routing and multiviewer systems.
Together, these systems give the production team complete control in driving content and marketing throughout the entire stadium. A major benefit for fans is the team’s ability to show many different unique views of a play — typically two or three replays after a big play and six or seven different angles following a touchdown.
“We want the fan experience at our stadium to be the best a person can have while enjoying a Ravens game,” concludes O’Brien. “We are proud that we provide more replays than broadcast TV and offer unique camera angles that fans can see only at our stadium. These elements engage our fans, foster team spirit and help us maintain one of the NFL’s best homefield advantages.”
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