What’s needed to televise ESPYS; inside the ESPY Celebrity Golf Classic
Editor’s note: Tuesday in Industry Hills, Calif., the 12th ESPY Celebrity Golf Classic helped raise $1 million in cancer research for the V Foundation. In the video above, meet some of the golfers — including Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford, Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner, ESPN executives and personalities — who explain why they support the V Foundation’s efforts.
LOS ANGELES — In the world of sports, numbers can be pretty impressive: a player’s batting average, the amount of weight an athlete can bench press, a coach’s won/loss record.
At the 2012 ESPYS — to be televised live tonight at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPNHD from the Nokia Theatre at L.A. LIVE — numbers loom large, too.
Just consider a sample of what’s needed to stage the event: 1325 feet of red carpet, 762 stage lights and 2200 amps of power.
“There’s more communications [intercoms] on this show than you have on the national championship football game, and that’s impressive,” said senior operations manager John LaChance.
“It’s a little staggering when you stop and think about it. I think you’ve got to give the entertainment events their due.”
Unlike Monday Night Football, the Women’s Final Four or the College World Series, the ESPYS is a different type of project, says ESPN’s coordinating director of operations Wendell Grigely.
“The entertainment show is scripted and the live sporting event is all coverage and reaction,” Grigely notes.
“[At the ESPYS], the production team is working with writers changing scripts, but with game coverage they are telling a story of the competition with last-second reaction.”
In between the parking of four mobile units (TV trucks) and 24 hours of rehearsal, 38 cameras are placed in just the right locations to capture all of the action at the 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre.
A recent enhancement — the fly cam — was added for the red carpet last year.
“To the best of our knowledge, there’s no other red carpet event that has that angle, that coverage,” LaChance said.
“So, when we look at our mission statement — to serve the sports fans at home — we’re giving them a unique perspective they can’t get anywhere else.”
The red-carpet Countdown Show begins at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
ESPYS20 by the numbers
• 2 satellite trucks
• 4 mobile units
• 12 hours of satellite time
• 24 hours of rehearsal
• 38 cameras
• 85 strands of fiber (cable)
• 182 speakers
• 486 lights on stage
• 762 LED monitor panels for on-stage screens
• 1325 feet of red carpet
• 2200 amps of power
• 7100 seats at Nokia Theatre
This post was updated with additional video after initial publication.
