More 3D Football on TV

BRISTOL, CONN.Forget the phantasmagorical extravaganzas in theaters for advancing 3D. Ain’t nothing drives television technology like the gridiron. ESPN is now on deck to transmit a 3D version of next month’s football game between the University of Southern California and Ohio State. The 3D telecast will employ dedicated trucks, crew and commentators, separate from the regular 2D program.

The Dayton Business Journal said the cable net has been working on the project for two years. The event will be shown in theaters in Los Angeles, Columbus, Ohio; Hartford, Conn.; and Hurst, Texas, to alumni and invitees, on Sept. 12.

ESPN follows the NFL, which created a 3D simulcast of a game between the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders last December. Fox did the Florida Gators-Oklahoma Sooners BCS Championship game during the Consumer Electronics Show in January in 3D. Diane Pucin of The Los Angeles Times checked it out.

“Having gone to a theater to watch the 2009 BCS championship game in 3D, I felt I had really missed the game because of jerky cameras, unusual angles and just a general sense that it was an experiment with kinks not worked out,” she wrote.

More from TVB on 3D football:
January 8, 2009: “3D TV, Football and Thou”
A 3D version of the Gators-Sooners match-up will be simulcast in Las Vegas today at the Consumer Electronics Show.

November 26, 2008: “NFL in 3D”
The San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders will appear in a 3D simulcast for a select few in a first-of-its kind simulcast. The Dec. 4 gridiron match-up will appear in 3D-capable theaters in Boston, Hollywood, and New York.