Boxing

Forward/Rewind: MLB/Boxing

1Screen shot 2013-12-26 at 11.28.04 AMEditor’s Note: With this multi-week series — the Front Row Forward/Rewind, 2014/2013 — ESPN’s Communications Department takes the pulse of content executives throughout ESPN for their views on what’s ahead across ESPN for 2014 and some of what transpired in 2013. The snapshots provide a look at where ESPN has been, where it’s going and how it plans on getting there.



MLB

Mike McQuade, Vice President, Production

Mike McQuade
Mike McQuade

What was the best example of your unit’s teamwork from 2013?
Opening Day is the best example of when the studio and the game teams come together. We create elements in Bristol for all of the games and hire separate ENG cameras that feed material back during the game on a separate path. In addition, every one of our game analysts was also an analyst during the season on Baseball Tonight.

What element from another ESPN production unit resonated with you most in 2013 and why?
The Telestrator technology used on golf, which we will bring to baseball, and help define defensive positioning.

What was the “most social” moment of 2013?
[New York Yankees batter] Alex Rodriguez getting hit by [Boston Red Sox hurler] Ryan Dempster’s pitch in Boston on Sunday Night Baseball.

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Boxing

Matt Sandulli, Senior Coordinating Producer, Production

Matt Sandulli
Matt Sandulli

What was the best example of your unit’s teamwork from 2013?
The biggest highlight from a production standpoint was doing Friday Night Fights from U.S. Cellular Field in August. We were able to bring the show into that venue and give it a big television production feel so viewers watching at home knew it was a special night. We had extra cameras to show off the ball park and the atmosphere was great the entire night. It was by far one of the best shows in the history of Friday Night Fights.

What element from another ESPN production team resonated with you most in 2013 and why?
I work on Little League as well, but I think ESPN’s Little League World Series presentation and the “Summer Forever” theme really captured the spirit of Little League. It gave the viewer a tremendous feel for what the experience is all about. The theme had a simple Americana feel to it. That’s exactly what Little League is, and to me, the theme was right on the money.

What was the “most social” moment of 2013?
While there is not one specific moment, I would have to say the “Live Friday Night Fights Facebook Voting App,” an application on the ESPN FNF Facebook page that allows viewers to score the fight round-by-round, was the most social element of Friday Night Fights in 2013. The app, introduced in 2011, has been very popular among our fans. Since we launched the app, our Facebook likes have more than doubled.

FNF Facebook page
What the “Friday Night Fights” Facebook Voting App looks like (ESPN)

Stephen McDonald contributed to this post

Forward/Rewind graphic by Samantha Baron

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