
There once was a time when the MLB Draft was no more than a glorified conference call no different from one the average American office employee might struggle to stay awake through on a random Monday morning.
Today, it's a television and Internet behemoth that utilizes nearly all the media assets under the Major League Baseball umbrella. From MLB Network to MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM) to the Commissioner's Office to the team video coordinators, the baseball-video world plays a role in the production, which aired on MLB Network last night and will continue today through Saturday on MLB.com.
Coordination Across the League
The best example of the magnitude of the coordination that goes into pulling off this broadcast lies in MLBAM's Remote Operations Group.
MLB Advanced Media's TOC takes in feeds from 26 draft rooms while maintaining its regular game-night workload.
Twenty-six of the league's 30 clubs have given MLB Network and MLBAM access to their draft rooms. With each venue offering a different level of connectivity, MLBAM Production/Technical Coordinator Krista Heritage faced unique challenges.
According to Heritage, most of the setups are done through relationships with the organizations' video technicians and scoreboard operators. The production team will deploy its own in-house camera within the draft room.
To transmit the signal, in most ballparks, MLBAM has existing infrastructure used during game days. In those instances, the signal travels over the MLB.com MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching), the same network that brings games back from the ballpark.
I am very thankful to the tech guys we work with at the ball clubs, says Heritage. There's a lot of feeds for us to handle, and the teams are great when I reach out to them. They take care of it and make my life really easy.
There are a few cases when things are not that cut and dried. In those instances, MLBAM is deploying LIveU and TVU Networks transmission backpacks. According to MLBAM Senior Director, Remote Operations, James Johnson, the teams were asked for a 10-meg pipe to allow a high-quality transmission in three venues where fibering to the MPLS was not practical.
The Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks are not drafting at their stadiums but instead are at their shared Spring Training facility, Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, AZ. There, MLBAM was supplied with two 10-meg pipes to which it hooked up a LiveU and a TVU backpack. The remote also deployed a LiveU at Milwaukee's Miller Park and a TVU in Detroit's Comerica Park.
We've been doing it for several years. I don't want to say it's the same thing every year, because it's not, but we know what to expect, and Krista knows how to work with the teams, says Johnson. It's a very delicate situation as you would expect. [The Draft] is their organization, and it is their future. It's not so much the planning as it is the relationships with the scoreboard operators and Bexel and TVU and LiveU.
All remote signals which include a small handful of camera feeds at players' homes are sent to the Transmission Operations Center (TOC) at MLBAM's Chelsea Market facilities in New York City.
Who Are These Guys?
While the production value of the MLB Draft is on par with that of its more mainstream counterparts at the NFL and NBA, MLB deals with challenges those leagues don't face: primarily, viewers for the most part have had little to no exposure to the players being selected.
This is the challenge we have because baseball players aren't seen as much as the college players in football or basketball, where games are on all of the time. And a lot of the guys being selected [in our draft] are in high school, explains Marc Weiner, MLB Network's coordinating producer for the MLB Draft. The challenge that we accept is, who are these guys? So we have to find that out and tell their story.
With just 73 picks made last night, MLB Network was prepared with B-roll and graphics for more than 400 prospects. The network's graphics team began creating graphics as early as February, and video from college athletic departments and scouts was aggregated and compiled throughout the year.
Our guys really dig deep and take a look at the video and talk with scouts and coaches. That's how we tell who are these guys, why are they relevant, and why, if I'm the fan of a team, am I interested.
There's no Bryce Harper or Stephen Strasburg in this year's draft class, so Weiner and the MLB Network team will hang their hats on names like Stephen Rodriguez and Michael Wacha, two of the five players who were drafted last year and have already made their Major League debuts.
It's not like it used to be, where it took five, six years before you saw any of these guys, says Weiner. Sure, five isn't a big percentage, but, if I'm a Cardinals fan and I see them take Michael Wacha and now he's already making his debut as a starting pitcher in May, that means something. Let me know more about this guy. That's our job. That's our challenge. Let the fan know who these guys are.
A look inside MLB Network's Studio 42 in Secaucus, NJ, on Thursday night suggests how big this event has grown.
If there's a capacity in Studio 42, we have to be close to it, laughs Weiner, who is overseeing MLB Network's draft broadcast for the second year.
Each MLB club and nine draft prospects were in attendance for the broadcast. To cover the festivities, MLB Network had a studio set for on-air talent and deployed a small arsenal of remote cameras and a jib to sweep through the studio capturing the various guests representing each team (legendary names like Frank Thomas and Tommy Lasorda were on hand).
Most recent headlines
14/03/2025
BURLINGTON, Mass. Avid has expanded its executive leadership team (ELT) with the appointment of three experienced executives: Tom Sharma as chief technology off...
14/03/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. TVU Networks, a pioneer in live video production and a leader in cloud-based media solutions, is marking its 20th anniversary at the 2025 NAB ...
13/03/2025
(L-R) Stephanie Suganami, Tatanka Means, John Malkovich, Ayo Edebiri, and Juliette Lewis attend the premiere of Opus at Eccles Theatre in Park City. (Photo by...
13/03/2025
Spotify took center stage at the London Book Fair this week, reaffirming our commitment to the audiobook market and showcasing our impact on the publishing indu...
13/03/2025
At Spotify, we work every day to lift up new voices, giving creators the opportunity to live off their art. Through Spotify Audiobooks, our in-house publishing ...
13/03/2025
Every time airborne law enforcement (ALE) teams fly, they expect their equipment to perform. Whether airborne units are conducting support for ground teams, bor...
13/03/2025
Sunday February 9 saw the annual return of the US' biggest television event, the Super Bowl LIX. Jamie McCombs, Fox Sports Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio capt...
13/03/2025
On Sunday March 2, stars across the film industry gathered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 97th Academy Awards. Production Sound Mixer Paul Sandweis...
13/03/2025
WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications will feature its new StageLink family of smart edge devices, Smart Audio and Mixing Engine (SAME) and Virtual Smart Pan...
13/03/2025
TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring ...
13/03/2025
DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage P...
13/03/2025
FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Lif...
13/03/2025
CTIA, the wireless industry association, has named former FCC Chairman Aji Pai as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1. He replaces Mere...
13/03/2025
he National Association of Broadcasters is urging the FCC to end its investigation of that controversial CBS interview with Kamala Harris stating there is no ...
13/03/2025
MIAMI CBS News & Stations continues to expand its use of augmented and virtual reality technologies with the planned launch of an augmented reality/virtual real...
13/03/2025
Srividhya Srinivasan, co-founder and chief customer success & innovation Officer at Amagi, tells TVBEurope how staying ahead of the latest trends is essential f...
13/03/2025
WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...
13/03/2025
SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...
13/03/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...
13/03/2025
TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...
13/03/2025
Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions.
...
13/03/2025
Roku Debuts NWSL Zone' Within Roku Sports to Spotlight Live Games, Content Feature marks Rokus first women's league-branded zone within service By Bra...
13/03/2025
Pixels, Images, Video, AI - and Us: A Perspective on AI from NDI Inventor Andrew...
13/03/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Lighting Design Group's Steve Brill, Dennis Size ...
13/03/2025
IOC, Comcast NBCU Ink $3B Media-Rights Extension for Olympic Games Through 2036;...
13/03/2025
NCAA March Madness Live Returns with Expanded Availability of MultiView Vertical...
13/03/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Cosm's Devin Poolman on What It Takes To Deliver the Immersive...
13/03/2025
Sky Business, Sky's B2B division, providing connectivity and content to busi...
13/03/2025
Rohde & Schwarz launches R&S NRP140TWG(N) thermal power sensor: A new benchmark ...
13/03/2025
We asked the questions, analysed the answers and now we're excited to share the results of the fifth edition of the ICG Marketing Survey.
Our 2025 survey p...
13/03/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. - March 13, 2025 Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced a breakthrough in video streaming innovation with the launch of new origin capabilitie...
13/03/2025
Haivision Showcases Mission-Critical Video Solutions at SOF Week 2025
Haivision's video wall systems, ISR technology, and DoDIN APL-certified video distri...
13/03/2025
Company Leads the Way with New Software-Based Production Platform, 12G Switcher,...
13/03/2025
A new Apple Immersive concert experience, Metallica, is coming to Apple Vision Pro this Friday, March 14. Filmed in Mexico City during the sold-out second-year ...
13/03/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
Shake your Shamrocks, Patrick Kielty will be...
13/03/2025
This St. Patrick's weekend, RT invites you to celebrate all things Irish, showcasing the very best of Irish sport, entertainment and live coverage from the...
13/03/2025
What's next in AI is at GTC 2025. Not only the technology, but the people and ideas that are pushing AI forward - creating new opportunities, novel solution...
13/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
By combining T-Mobile's robust network, Thal...
13/03/2025
Bundle up - GeForce NOW is bringing a flurry of Blizzard titles to its ever-expanding library.
Prepare to weather epic gameplay in the cloud, tackling the genr...
13/03/2025
AI is leveling up the world's most beloved games, as the latest advancements...
13/03/2025
PC game modding is massive, with over 5 billion mods downloaded annually. Mods p...
12/03/2025
O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...
12/03/2025
Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...
12/03/2025
Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...
12/03/2025
Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...
12/03/2025
More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report
NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...
12/03/2025
GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...
12/03/2025
BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....
12/03/2025
LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...
12/03/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....