In the year leading up to the World Cup, Super Bowl and Women’s World Cup also known as “Jewel Events”, the technical operations team at Fox Sports conceptualized an innovative new broadcast system that would be transportable via airplane, rapidly deployable, and cutting-edge flexible. Fox Sports partnered with Diversified to validate the technical and financial feasibility of their concept then to develop and test the dual first-of-their-kind 2110 flypack broadcast systems.
Flypacks are not a new concept to the industry, but this version takes the concept one step further to accommodate air transportation, rather than by sea, and ensure smooth deployment.
“Shipping has gone from being reliable to now best efforts. We decided that we wanted to be able to build a system that could be flown on the lower deck of any wide-body aircraft. We worked with Diversified to put a hinge on the rack and then cabled it in such a way that we could fold the racks in half,” says Kevin Callahan, VP of Field Operations and Engineering for Fox Sports.*
With the help of trusted partners, TAG Video Systems and EVS Broadcast Equipment, the flypack was executed to fulfill Fox Sports’ vision. There are two systems, one for content creation and another for distribution and monitoring, each containing 20 foldable racks, divided into four pallets. Each pallet weighs approximately 5,000-6,000 lbs. The pallets are interconnected using MPO12 cables, allowing the system to turn an empty room into a working central equipment room (CER) in five hours. Each CER is capable of handling 3,000+ 2110 streams. To accommodate worldwide usage, the system can simultaneously handle 50 and 60fps.
“We wanted to rapidly deploy and strike with this system because it has to travel across the globe and perform at multiple events in a short time,” says Duane Yoslov, SVP at Diversified. The innovative Flypack Broadcast System allows Fox Sports to approach the biggest events effectively and affordably by extending their at-home production capability through this mobile data center. The system that brought the 2022 World Cup into homes across the world will now move to do the same for the Super Bowl, the Women’s World Cup, and more. Diversified will continue to support Fox Sports as the flypack is put to work at future key events.
The teamwork and innovative detail put into this system has the potential to shape the future broadcasting landscape. “We are just beginning to learn how to drive this system right now. We are still learning all the ways this system will continue to provide for our needs in the coming years,” – Mike Davies, Fox Sports, SVP, Technical and Field Operations.
To learn more about this ground-breaking system, watch this recent panel discussion from the Sports Video Group Summit detailing the design and development.
*Quote sourced from Sports Video Group.
