by Jason Drachman, Editorial Director, SVG News
After more than three years fraught with front-office shakeups and pandemic-related hurdles, the CrossFit Games are back at full strength this week at Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI. And the production team is onsite at full strength, returning to 2018 equipment levels with an army of CrossFit Games production vets. Deploying six mobile units, a crew of more than 250, 35-plus cameras, and a comprehensive campus-wide fiber backbone, this year’s operation is on par with the massive productions seen during the CrossFit Games’ peak.
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CrossFit and HRP Live worked closely with NEP’s Creative Technologies (CT) division and CP Communications to create a unified fiber backbone to serve both broadcast and on-campus operations across the sprawling Alliant Energy Center campus. For more than a week prior to the start of the Games, the fiber crew was onsite, running hundreds of miles of fiber across the campus, which comprises the NOBULL Coliseum, ROGUE North Park Stadium, and numerous fan-activations and festival-style installations.
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CP Communications is providing a total of 13 Aviwest (recently acquired by Haivision) mobile IP-based video-contribution systems. In addition, a 14th system is on hand for ENG work, allowing reporters to deliver hits from anywhere around the grounds.
“By using bonded cellular,” says Roth, “we could keep all of our production facilities here on campus but send people and gear wherever they need to go without having to park a truck somewhere. We’re able to use the same people and facilities but still go pretty much anywhere we want. We’ve done cellular tests all over town, and CP’s experience and expertise with [bonded cellular] gave us the confidence to go with the technology.”
