To cap its 30th season broadcasting the NFL, FOX will televise its 11th Super Bowl.
And for Super Bowl LIX, the network is rolling out some exciting, new gadgetry and the most cameras it ever has used for a Super Bowl.
For a typical game, FOX only has 35 to 40 cameras for the action. But for Super Bowl LIX, it will have 147 total cameras, including 85 game cameras — 27 super slow motion, 23 high resolution, 16 robotic, 10 wireless and two SkyCams.
Though that number is impressive, it can be a bit misleading because you only need so many cameras for live game action.
But a major benefit of the additional cameras is instant replay.
“When you’re at the Super Bowl,” said Michael Davies, FOX Sports’ executive vice president of field and technical operations, “it’s vital that there are no angles missed.”
Not only can the broadcast use those angles, but the replay officials also can as well.
FOX is particularly enthused about its high SkyCam providing the payload for a Sony HDC-P50A 4K box camera. That will provide a great analytical view for Tom Brady because it has higher resolution, shoots at a higher frame rate and can show a wider view of the field.
The box camera is only about the size of a shoebox and was first tried in the preseason before going into use for Week 16. It offers an All-22 shot from high above and then can zoom in for part of the play without any blurriness.
“Seeing it from above allows an analyst to dive into some real breakdowns of plays,” Davies exclusively shared. “It gives the production yet another tool.”
There will be 64 pre-game cameras, including 12 wireless, eight robotic, seven augmented reality and a FlyCam, which is a two-point wire camera that will traverse down Toulouse Street to Orleans Street during its pregame show.
New Orleans has hosted many big-time sporting events, but for the first time, a pregame show will be located on Bourbon Street.
“It’s going to be popping,” FOX NFL Sunday analyst Rob Gronkowski said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. This is when the energy gets brought up to another level.”
FOX NFL Sunday will spend the first two-and-a-half hours of its five-and-a-half pregame show on that famous street. The studio crew will interact with fans and run football plays on a field that’s set up. Live music will play, and Gordon Ramsay will make po’ boys.
Having coordinated with both the NFL and local law enforcement, which is on high alert following the Jan. 1 terrorist attack on Bourbon Street, FOX will use drones to show footage of New Orleans landmarks and fans entering the Caesars Superdome.
FOX innovatively used drones for its UFL games, and it’s the 10th anniversary of its first experimentation with aerial production drones, following a Supercross event in Indianapolis.
“Drones are a big part of what we do,” executive producer of FOX NFL Sunday Bill Richards said. “It’s great to see it become a little bigger part of the NFL.”
For its 30th anniversary of broadcasting the NFL, it’s not surprising it’s rolling out the bells and whistles, considering the investment involved.
Securing the rights to NFC games originally cost $1.58 billion. Under the current NFL media contracts, FOX now pays about $2.2 billion annually.
According to that agreement, FOX, CBS, NBC and ESPN/ABC will alternate broadcasting future Super Bowls, but FOX received the honor twice in three years because NBC has the Winter Olympics, and the logistics involved in broadcasting the Super Bowl and Olympics back to back would have been challenging.
“Every network that is lucky enough to have these rights is essentially the steward of the Super Bowl,” Davies said. “To be able to bring the start of the art to the audience is … important.”
