CHARLOTTE, N.C., and BRISTOL, Conn.—The Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN have announced that the sports programmer has exercised its option to extend its TV rights deal for the college conference’s games through the 2035-36 academic year.

The ESPN and ACC relationship has spanned more than 35 years and includes ACC Network, which was launched in August 2019. ACC Network is one of only three national and fully distributed conference networks.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Separately, ESPN.com reported that “the conference is working on additional ‘value adds,’ which could include creating more marquee matchups in football and men's basketball to maximize content on the networks that would help pave the way toward the new revenue distribution model and a settlement with Clemson and Florida State [in their ongoing litigation with the ACC]. Multiple athletic directors told ESPN this could also involve using the ACC's relationship with Notre Dame to strategically create more games against the conference's top-tier teams. Earlier this month, Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said he was open to playing more games against Clemson in the future. Notre Dame currently plays five to six regular-season football games against the ACC annually and is a member of the ACC in all other sports.”

Notre Dame has a national television deal with NBC Sports for its home games but road games against ACC teams are televised under the ESPN-ACC contract.

“We appreciate the ongoing partnership with ESPN and their enduring commitment that further solidifies the ACC as a premier league in all facets,” said ACC commissioner Jim Phillips. “The extension showcases the importance of our long-standing relationship, and I want to personally thank the entire ESPN team for their leadership and dedication to our collective future. In addition, I want to thank our ACC Board of Directors who have been involved throughout this entire process. The resolve from both parties to further enhance the partnership through innovation and creativity to continue to drive additional value remains our top priority.”

“We are pleased to extend our media rights agreement with the ACC through 2036, continuing our longstanding relationship,” said Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN. “We remain committed to serving the ACC, its member schools, student athletes and fans via comprehensive live game coverage, storytelling and broad exposure across our unprecedented array of networks and platforms, including ACC Network. The ACC is a pillar of ESPN’s leading commitment to college sports and we are thrilled to continue the partnership over the next decade.”

SOUTH BEND, Ind.–Founded in November 1842, the University of Notre Dame is America’s leading Catholic, undergraduate research institution. It’s home to approximately 8,900 undergraduate students, 4,200 graduate/professional students, and hosts several of the United States’ most renowned athletics teams. Collectively known as the “Fighting Irish,” as their sporting prowess has developed, so has the desire to produce better live game coverage.

Built in 2017, our Notre Dame Studios production facility was designed to be a fully IP from the start, however it’s not part of the athletics department. As part of the Office of Informational Technology (OIT), we’re a centralized production facility that serves all of the Notre Dame campus. We produce a variety of events year-round, ranging from performing arts and academic events to weekly coverage of the Catholic Mass from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

Our Calrec Installs
Our three studios encompass a range of content, from simple studio shoots to linear broadcasts, covering approximately 125 annual athletic contests for ESPN’s ACC Network. More recently we have provided the backbone for all of Notre Dame’s home ice hockey games to NBC’s Peacock streaming service.

Our commitment to NBC made us rethink our audio infrastructure. The sheer number of microphones we have in place around the rink, combined with providing content between periods, means we produce a whole professional show for NBC. We knew we needed to upgrade to provide the level of audio quality that NBC required.

After seeking advice from our own A1, Garry Elghammer, as well as several visiting NBC A1s with whom we share feeds, we installed a Calrec Artemis audio console, Type R surface and IP ImPulse cores into our Rex and Alice A. Martin Media Center. The Artemis is installed in Audio Control Room 2 (ACR2), the Type R is in ACR1, and we operate three smaller control rooms that use Axia Fusion consoles.

The Artemis is the heart of the entire audio system, and it’s when covering hockey that we really stretch its legs! It’s a 48-fader console with an empty bay that will enable us to extend to 56 faders in the future, which is NBC’s minimum requirement for football coverage. It has redundant ImPulse cores, which not only allow us to maintain our full IP workflows but means that the whole Notre Dame facility can interoperate on the same SMPTE 2110 network, whether that’s an audio product like Calrec or Axia, or a video product like Evertz.

Network Flexibility
We have a modular I/O unit in the equipment room for interfacing, a 32x32 EDAC I/O unit in ACR2, a 12x4 fixed format I/O box located in one of our studios, and three portable 24x8 fixed format units that we use around campus. It enables us to work like a REMI; with fiber operating between all our venues we can facilitate various types of productions. It makes bringing in all the different audio feeds really easy, and it means that the Calrec network benefits the whole university and not just athletics.

With I/O boxes strategically placed across campus, we have enough flexibility to cover a variety of events. ACR1’s Type R is a more compact 36 fader surface but has all the features of a larger production console, enabling us to mix for shows for ESPN, and it’s well understood by visiting A1s, which increases the pool of contractors/freelancers we can use.

Our Calrec IP infrastructure enables us to flex our network when required to service the whole university. We’re also committed to training the next generation in all areas of broadcast, even non-broadcast students are learning operational skills to give them valuable, real-world paid experience in professional audio with many students seriously considering a career in broadcast.

For more information on Calrec visit https://calrec.com.

PHILADELPHIA—Comcast has announced that The University of Notre Dame has joined the partner consortium for Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech as the program’s first collegiate organization. 

Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech provides startups who have been selected to joint the program with valuable insights and access to decision-makers at leading sports brands around the world. Notre Dame joins a consortium that includes Notre Dame, NBC Sports, Sky Sports, Comcast Spectacor, NASCAR, Premier League, PGA Tour, and three U.S. Olympic sports organizations: U.S. Ski & Snowboard, USA Swimming, and USA Cycling.

Over the course of six months, Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech connects founders with members of the group with an eye toward developing strategic collaborations and enhancing companies’ products and services, the consortium explained. 

Starting with SportsTech’s fifth class, which will begin in 2025, companies selected to join the innovation program will have an opportunity to explore collaborations and engage directly with experts and leaders from the University and its network. 

The agreement builds on the longstanding relationship between Notre Dame and NBC Sports. NBC Sports has exclusively presented Notre Dame home football games since 1991, making it the longest running collegiate media partnership. NBC Sports recently announced enhanced rights to bring more Notre Dame content to fans across Peacock and additional platforms. 

“Notre Dame adds a unique innovation champion to Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech’s distinguished partner roster,” said Will McIntosh, president, Fandango & NBC Sports Next, a subdivision of NBC Sports and home to all NBCUniversal digital applications in sports and technology. “As the program’s first collegiate advisor, Notre Dame offers new opportunities, access, and insight for startups. Additionally, through our broadcast rights, NBC Sports and Notre Dame have a rich tradition of collaborating on ways of enriching fan experiences, further aligning to one of SportsTech’s core pillars.” 

“We are excited to join Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech, bringing together and further enhancing our historic collaboration with NBC Sports and the University’s commitment to innovative athletics,” added Pete Bevacqua, director of athletics, University of Notre Dame. “Being part of this program will continue to help us to identify and implement new technologies and ways of thinking that can elevate the sports experience for our University, our athletes, and our fans.” 

The University of Notre Dame works to foster innovation through its academics and athletic programs, including its Innovation Park, an entrepreneurship center that is home to over 60 startup companies and its accelerator support program for early-stage startups. 

Beginning in April 2022, Notre Dame was one of the first members of NBC Sports Athlete Direct, a platform linking college student-athletes and advertisers through a trusted marketplace, enabling student-athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Student-athletes who opt-in to the program are presented with NIL opportunities from advertisers that include monetizing their social media followings. Additionally, NBC Sports collaborates with CNBC, the world leader in business and financial news, to provide personal finance resources. 

To apply for the Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech Class of 2025 and learn more about the program’s eight focus areas—media and entertainment, fan/player engagement, athlete/player performance, team and coach success, venue and event innovation, fantasy sports and betting, esports, and the business of sports—visit www.comcastsportstech.com/2025.  

SOUTH BEND, IND.—Recently, the athletics department at the University of Notre Dame built a new campus-wide media production facility to cover athletics, as well as academia and other live events. Cellular bonding, specifically LiveU, became an important component to support high-quality content and delivery from anywhere on or off campus.

I joined University of Notre Dame from the Denver Broncos two years ago, where I led event productions. I had been a big proponent for IP-based live video and wanted to bring that same level of high-quality content and reliability to the renowned university. As executive producer of live events, I led the testing of technology to support live video via cellular bonded technology.

THAT WAS THEN...

In the past, the reliability wasn’t there. The university had some cellular bonded gear, but the live productions never got off the ground. Instead, the media crew captured content via a recorded device and sent it back to the production team for editing post-event. This was a cumbersome process. Part of this process involved the camera operator attempting to upload large video files while en route to the airport from the away game.

I told my colleagues, ‘LiveU is a different product. You’ll notice the technology’s ease of use right away.’

After taking a second look at cellular bonded technology and specifically LiveU this time, the university put their trust in the technology to reliably deliver live content to its broadcast and digital properties.

We chose to rent LiveU HEVC portable transmission units for the reliability factor. The unit boasted the highest video quality in low bandwidth situations, with no delay or signal issues during our live productions. Knowing you will always get a great signal was appealing.

Soon after, the University started implementing more LiveU gear into their productions and true live video became part of their normal routine.

WIRELESS AT-HOME PRODUCTION

The production leverages an end-to-end IP-based workflow which allows us to send only a reporter and camera operator on site and then pull in the live feeds, switch, edit, and distribute the live content from our South Bend studio.

Because of the cost savings and simplification of production enhanced by cloud-based production, we can create more live content and explore more opportunities off campus.

At home games, the university uses the LiveU portable transmission unit to produce the live post-game broadcast and the famous “Player Walk.” On the road, our team uses a LiveU to cover the onsite field reporter and the post-game press conference which are sent in real-time back to the South Bend facility for editing and production as part of the post-game show.

LiveU allows for more flexibility on the road. The operator can capture content and head back home while the work is being done in our South Bend studio.

Today, the University continues to push the envelope looking for new ways to leverage Wireless At-Home Production to capture, produce and distribute live events from interesting places—without infrastructure worries or astronomical production costs.

Longer term, we’re looking at sports facilities such as swimming and diving, where fiber is challenging. We are confident that LiveU will play a role in bringing this diverse coverage to a wider audience.

Mike Bonner is executive producer of live events for the University of Notre Dame Athletics Department. He can be reached atmbonner@nd.edu.

For more information, visitwww.liveu.comor call 877-88-LiveU (54838).

AUSTIN, TEXAS—The latest addition to Notre Dame’s campus brings the university one step further into the IP world, as BeckTV helped the school design a live production media center with an all-IP routing infrastructure. The Rex and Alice A. Martin Media Center is a production facility that is designed to support Notre Dame’s capacity and agility in supporting live broadcasts and postproduction.

The Martin Media Center, which is adjacent to Notre Dame Stadium, includes one large studio, one teaching studio, two nine-position production control rooms, two audio control rooms, a camera shading room, a slow-motion replay room and eight fiber-connected editing suites. The center has an Evertz EXE IP video/audio router to connect spaces in the media center to three additional control rooms and one studio located in the Joyce Center. This allows for any of the five control rooms to be used as a remote production room for any venue on campus equipped with fiber connectivity.

BeckTV also supplied the Martin Media Center with Riedel Communications’ AES67 intercom panels and Riedel’s Bolero AES67 wireless intercom. Axia Fusion mixers utilizing AES67 have been deployed in the audio control rooms for sharing of audio between the router, intercom and mixer while remaining within the IP network switch environment.

STAMFORD, CONN.—The college football season goes into full swing this weekend, and for Notre Dame alumni abroad NBC Sports is providing an option for them to watch all of the Fighting Irish home games. The new Notre Dame Football Season Pass will be available in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. for $49.99.

For more information, read the full story on TVT's sister publication Multichannel News. 

BURBANK, CALIF.—Bexel ESS is earning some extra credit with a few college sports programs by designing and installing remote camera systems for video capture during games and practices. Two recent installations of the Bexel systems include the Michigan State University football program and University of Notre Dame lacrosse teams.

Michigan State had Bexel install a second end zone camera in Spartan Stadium to aid in practice sessions and also to study movements of the team and its opponents during games. The stadium design required Bexel to create a custom pole to mount a single pan, tilt and zoom camera to clear the video ribbon board. The camera system is weatherproof and is connected via a single mode fiber to a patch panel for video and control, and features a custom-designed camera control case.

Two remote cameras were installed at Notre Dame’s lacrosse stadium by Bexel; it also designed and built a camera control system for the lacrosse teams. One camera is mounted on the top of the stadium wall for a sideline view via CAT6. The other is mounted on a pole in the end zone that is also utilized by the school’s football team; a fiber connection to the video control system is provided for this camera.

Bexel ESS, a division of Bexel Global Broadcast Solutions, designs and installs systems for permanent facilities, major events, live game production and enterprise markets.

SOUTH BEND, IND.—College campuses are places for higher learning, and NBC is getting in on that mentality as well this year as the broadcaster is initiating a 4K simulcast to its traditional HD broadcast of Notre Dame home football games using the 39 Flex truck from the Englewood, Colo.-based Mobile TV Group (MTVG). The truck is specifically built to handle 4K production, and with it, NBC has been able to test out the process for possible uses in the future.

39 Flex

NBC announced back in September that it would be offering simultaneous 4K broadcasts of Notre Dame home football games to DirecTV customers. So far the network has handled three broadcasts, with the fourth taking place this weekend as the Fighting Irish take on Stanford. According to NBC’s broadcast director for the games, Pierre Moossa, it’s been an exciting process so far, but there is still a learning curve.

“This is a little bit of a unique production for NBC, in that we still have our normal mobile unit, an HD mobile unit, that we normally do our production with,” said Moossa. “The Mobile TV Group 39 Flex is a side-by-side production.”

Specifically, there are about seven to eight people working in the 39 Flex during Notre Dame broadcasts, a smaller number than what is in NBC’s NEP HD truck. Moossa, who operates from the NEP truck, is in communication with the operators in the 39 Flex so that they can mimic HD production’s moves, creating an identical broadcast for those who are able to watch on 4K.

However, despite the HD broadcast being the driving force behind the production, 4K is quickly putting its fingerprints on how these games are captured. Eleven of the 16 cameras being used during the production are native 4K, with mostly only specialized cameras used for aerial footage remaining just HD. The 4K cameras’ feeds are sent straight to the 39 Flex and then shaded and downconverted to be sent to the HD truck. To do so, NBC has also had to change its format to work with the 4K cameras, switching from 1080i to 1080p for footage, graphics and playback clips.

“The transition alone has required a lot more time and it’s also been a bit of a learning curve there,” explained Moossa. “Generally speaking, it’s a much bigger set-up and it’s a much bigger connectivity between the trucks… but it’s definitely one that’s had a huge impact and a huge benefit.”

Including the game this weekend against Stanford, there are four more Notre Dame home games where NBC will utilize the 39 Flex truck from MTVG. Where things go after that, however, is still up in the air.

“In the short term, there are plans to do more,” said Moossa. “Nothing’s been confirmed yet… but really the Notre Dame focus has been baby steps… let’s make sure we get this operation moving and make sure it’s a huge success and it has been. So now the next steps are to take a look at other properties and projects that we could do that.”

The time when NBC will be able to handle entire productions with just a 4K truck will depend on when 4K is more prevalent and accessible, but Moossa feels that the experience thus far with the 39 Flex has been valuable in preparing them for that step whenever it comes.

DALLAS—The Golden Domers are getting the 4K treatment, as AT&T and DirecTV have announced they will offer 4K UHD coverage of all Notre Dame Fighting Irish home football games for the 2016 season. The 4K broadcast will complement the traditional HD broadcast, featuring the same on-air commentators, camera angles and graphics.

The first available 4K broadcast will be Sept. 10 when the Fighting Irish play the University of Nevada Wolf Pack. Other UHD broadcasts include games against Michigan State, Duke, Stanford, the University of Miami, and Virginia Tech. All productions will be produced by NBC Sports. Mobile TV Group will provide its 4K mobile unit, 39 Flex, to NBC for the productions.

Like AT&T and DirecTV’s previous 4K sports broadcasts, the 4K Notre Dame games will only be available to DirecTV subscribers who have a Genie HD DVR (Model HR54 or higher) and a DirecTV 4K Ready TV, or a 4K TV connected to a 4K Genie Mini.