NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four: ESPN To Produce Event in 1080p HDR, Upconvert to 4K for Delivery 50 cameras cover game and studio as ESPN further elevates marquee event By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital Thursday, April 3, 2025 - 3:12 pm
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It's no secret: the NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four has evolved into one of the premier spectacles on the American sports calendar. Even following the mammoth spike in attention over the past two years, this year's weekend is shaping up to carry the torch admirably with three No. 1 seeds (South Carolina, UCLA, and Texas) and the longtime juggernaut of UConn in the mix Friday night in Tampa.
Beyond the action on the court, ESPN is again in place with one of its most comprehensive and ambitious basketball productions ever. The major highlight: this Women's Final Four is being produced in 1080p HDR and distributed in 4K UHD for the first time.
We're focused on making sure this event receives the production quality and storytelling excellence it deserves, says Meg Aronowitz, SVP, production, ESPN. We continue to push the envelope in how we cover the game, ensuring that fans at home feel as close to the action as those in the arena.
Elevating Production Standards ESPN has stuffed more than 50 cameras into Amalie Arena to handle the game, surrounding studio coverage, and the alternative broadcast The Bird & Taurasi Show.
Key highlights of the camera setup include 34 cameras dedicated solely to the game. In that arsenal are eight high-speed cameras capturing super-slow-motion replays, Sony 4800's with Fuji 25-1000mm and Fuji 24-300mm lenses for ultra-detailed shots, a two-point SupraCam (extended above the sideline flying over the stands), the return of RailCam, an on-court Steadicam shooting in shallow depth-of-field, and a drone flying outside with the ability to display augmented reality and virtual graphics.
ESPN director Jimmy Platt runs through preparations for the 2025 NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four in NEP EN1 parked outside Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. (Photos: Katie Callahan, ESPN PR)
It's a wealth of resources, one that ESPN leadership believes reflects the growing prominence of women's basketball.
It's gluttonous, laughs Aronowitz. We have a lot, and I'm thrilled to be able to have a lot. This championship deserves a lot, but sometimes people measure the success of innovation on how many times they see it on the screen. That's not how I measure the success of innovation. I measure the success of innovation on how it helps us tell stories and how we execute those stories.
She adds that all of those resources are in great hands with the front bench of producer Kerry Callahan and director Jimmy Platt.
That's exactly why Kerry and Jimmy are in those chairs, Aronowitz says. To be great in this job, you have to have restraint. Just because you have something doesn't mean that you force it in. I have full faith in them and the team that we have around them. I know that they understand that the priority is the documentation of the game first and everything that we can do to enhance the experience for the viewer at home, that's what they're great at.
The production team is bolstered by VP Alex Farmartino; Senior Managing Producer Esther Van Huystee; Senior Production Manager Sam Vanoni; Managing Producer Jodi Denk; Director, Production Management, Dom Vargas; Coordinating Producers Matt Leach, Kate Leonard, and Baron Miller; CCUs Kathryn Davidson and Jess Maddox; and Production Coordinators Sutton Delaney, Wes Rimpson, and Rachel Smith.
A MegaCast for a Mega Event ESPN's MegaCast coverage of the Final Four means that fans have multiple ways to experience the game beyond the traditional broadcast.
Leading the pack is the return of The Bird & Taurasi Show Presented by AT&T, featuring WNBA legends Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi delivering commentary and interviewing personalities during the game. Although the show is hosted from the venue, it's a full REMI production deploying control rooms in Bristol, CT. The Bird & Taurasi Show will be available on ESPN2 and ESPN for the semifinal games on Friday and on ESPN and ESPN for the championship on Sunday.
Other viewing options will deploy unique camera angles. Beyond the Rim provides an aerial perspective with enhanced statistical overlays, and On the Rail relies on the courtside RailCam with natural sound and no commentary. Both can be streamed on ESPN .
Seamless Operations and Coordination Executing an event of this scale naturally requires meticulous planning and a dedicated team of production and operations professionals. The build-up to these massive shows isn't the flip of a switch; it has been a gradual growth process through the season and the entire tournament.
We're not rolling out innovations just for the Final Four, says Catherine Chalfant, manager, remote production operations, ESPN. We've been building toward this all year. Every broadcast we've done this season has been a step toward elevating this event.
The logistical blueprint includes six mobile units, including NEP EN1 A, B, C, D, and E (in their final year of service) and two Alliance Flex trucks.
This marks the final year when ESPN will produce the Final Four from NEP EN1. It's also the first time the event has been produced in 1080p HDR.
Operations will handle 132 channels of replay - leveraging 11 VIA 12-channel systems and two 4800 play-out stations - and 25 transmission paths, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity for all platforms. The show will be produced completely in 1080p HDR with all signals sent to Bristol, where upconverting for 4K will take.
Additionally, this year marks the first time that Viz Libero augmented reality graphics will be implem
