Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

TNT Sports' NBA 2K25 DataCasts Blur Line Between Video Game and Live Broadcast During Emirates NBA Cup

10/12/2024

TNT Sports' NBA 2K25 DataCasts Blur Line Between Video Game and Live Broadcast During Emirates NBA Cup TNT is leveraging Genius Sports technology to bring the videogame-centric broadcast to life By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.

Tuesday, December 10, 2024 - 4:02 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

For more than a decade, countless sports-production leaders have opined about the need to make live broadcasts look more like video games in order to draw a broader audience. Tonight, TNT Sports is making that vision a literal reality. In collaboration with NBA 2K and Genius Sports, TNT Sports will offer the the first of four immersive NBA 2K25 DataCast presentations on truTV and Max during the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals and Semifinals.

We are conscious of the fact that many fans today have experienced sports through video games first and they are used to watching the game from that perspective, says Matt Mosteller, TNT Sports' VP of Content. So we're excited for fans to be able to experience the NBA Cup through this NBA 2K lens. So many fans who have grown up playing NBA 2K will now be able to see it come to life in the real game.

The 2K Takeover: Finding the Sweet Spot Between Videogame and Broadcast The altcasts will blur the lines between the videogame and the real NBA experience with NBA 2K25 overlays, such as the iconic Shot Meter, 2K badges, and official 2K camera angles. In addition, split-second game insights - player tracking, shot probability, shot distance - powered by Genius Sports' GeniusIQ will be embedded throughout the telecasts via a consistent L-Bar graphic on the screen.

Players will be highlighted on the court with overlays that will showcase shot probability, shot distance, and other things that you wouldn't see in a normal game - all in the style of an NBA 2K25 game, says Mosteller. Then you will also see a variety of other graphics, camera angles, and other elements that come right from the NBA 2K game that fans who play the game are used to seeing.

This marks TNT Sports' latest data-focused alternative-broadcast efforts following on the heels of the first-ever NHL DataCast Powered by AWS during the NHL Western Conference Final in May and the MLB DataCast throughout the entire ALCS in October.

We've been doing [altcasts] for a while now and we've done a couple [DataCasts] with Genius, but the addition of NBA 2K25 adds a very different vibe than the others we have done, says Mosteller. 2K has been such a great partner and they're very endemic to basketball so it adds an exciting new layer to that DataCast model.

Fans who tune into the NBA 2K25 DataCast broadcasts will also have the opportunity to redeem six NBA 2K25 Locker Codes, each unlocking an Amethyst MyTEAM pack and allowing players to choose one of 11 NBA superstars to build the ultimate MyTEAM lineup.

On Hand in ATL: Standalone Production Out of Techwood Campus All four NBA 2K25 DataCasts (three quarterfinals and one semifinal) will be standalone productions operating out of Warner Bros. Discovery's Techwood Campus in Atlanta. The DataCasts will be produced out of a dedicated control room with its own director, producer, and graphics operators.

The NBA 2K25 DataCast production team will take in the line-cut from the primary TNT broadcast and insert overlays on top using Genius Sports' technology. In addition, the front bench in the control room will access to all of the main TNT broadcast's iso cameras, as well as one unilateral iso camera of its own.

The most important iso will be that backboard camera that recreates the iconic NBA 2K game angle, says Mosteller. We will bring that camera in from the trucks on site and roll back highlights from that angle. It's going to make [viewers] feel like everything is actually happening inside the NBA 2K game.

The first-of-its-kind alternative viewing experience will also feature its own dedicated on-air talent led by host Adam Lefkoe and sports-analytics expert Kirk Goldsberry along with contributions by pro hoops stars Vince Carter, Candace Parker, and Channing Frye.

Being able to utilize our own cameras, production, and graphics really gives us the ability to craft our own story around the game, says Mosteller. And we've got some really great personalities in front of the camera to help us tell that story as well.

Genius has set up two of its servers at the Techwood studios - a primary and backup - in order to insert overlays over the game action. Genius Sports leverages the data from Sony Hawk-Eye's optical tracking technology at each arena in order to insert the graphic overlays. A dedicated Genius Sports tech producer will be sitting on the back bench in Atlanta alongside other graphics operators to help manage overlays and L-Bar graphics.

Genius has been a great partners to work with on this, says Mosteller. They are very hands-on and volunteered to send one of their own people down to work with us hand in hand as we produce this.

TNT is also utilizing Ross Video Xpression graphics and Inside Edge analytics platform for the broadcasts.

Looking Ahead: More Altcasts on the Horizon In addition to previous DataCasts, TNT Sports teamed up with the NHL, Warner Bros. Games, and Beyond Sports to produce a MultiVersus NHL Face-Off animated broadcast in April. Between these broadcasts and other personality-fueled altcasts, TNT Sports continues to explore new ways to bring live games to viewers.

We always want to innovate; that's just in our DNA over here at TNT Sports, says Mosteller. We want to deliver engaging content that ultimately serves the fan so we are always looking for different executions to get fans excited. That can be geared toward the hardcore fans to the hardcore fan like the DataCasts or the casual fan like the M
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/12/10/tnt-sports-nba-2k25-datacasts-b...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

21/12/2024

L3Harris Thrusters Position NASA Probe for Closest Approaches to the Sun

Artist's concept of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL...

21/12/2024

Dallas Mavericks Roll Out New Streaming Platform

DALLAS and NEW YORK The NBA's Dallas Mavericks, working with Endeavor Streaming, Softtek and the NBA, have launched an official streaming platform for MavsT...

21/12/2024

Former FCC Chair Expresses Concern' Over Musk's Influence

As tech billionaire Elon Musk takes an increasingly high-profile policy role in the incoming Trump administration, a former Federal Communications Commission ch...

21/12/2024

Gray Media Renews Comscore Measurement Deal

RESTON, Va. Comscore has announced that it has renewed and expanded its measurement deal with Gray Media....

21/12/2024

Sinclair, Gray Media to Broadcast Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Games

The Columbus Blue Jackets, Sinclair and FanDuel Sports Network have signed a deal that will allow Sinclair and Gray Media stations in select markets to simulcas...

21/12/2024

Our Favorite Songs of 2024

Our Favorite Songs of 2024 Explore a playlist featuring some of the top songs of the year, as picked by members of the Berklee community. By Tara Bellucci De...

21/12/2024

Berklee Wrapped 2024: Our Top News and Stories

Berklee Wrapped 2024: Our Top News and Stories Take a look at some of our best stories of the year, including announcing our next president, hosting Andr 300...

21/12/2024

Alumna Allison de Groot Awarded 2024 Steve Martin Banjo Prize

Alumna Allison de Groot Awarded 2024 Steve Martin Banjo Prize De Groot, a former student of the American Roots Music Program, was recognized for her unique so...

20/12/2024

Thinking of Launching a Podcast? Let Our New Guide Show You How

Podcasting has become one of the most popular ways to tell stories and connect with audiences, but getting started can be intimidating, especially when it comes...

20/12/2024

2025 Sundance Film Festival Reveals 92 Projects for Feature Film and Episodic Programs

Top L-R: The Legend of Ochi, Rabbit Trap, East of Wall, Seeds Center Row L-R: Re...

20/12/2024

Spotify Presents the First-Ever Billions Club Live Show With The Weeknd

For any song to rack up billions of streams is an impressive accomplishment, but being a part of Spotify's Billions Club is something The Weeknd knows quite...

20/12/2024

Curl Up Under the Mistletoe With These Holiday Romance Audiobooks

It's the most wonderful time of the year, but if you seek an escape, pop in your headphones and enjoy the soothing sounds of a story. And this season, a rom...

20/12/2024

Revisit 2024 With Some of Your Favorite Podcasts From The Ringer

As the year draws to a close, Spotify's The Ringer is celebrating the best of 2024 with an exciting lineup of retrospective podcast episodes. This December,...

20/12/2024

HPA Award Delivered To New Zealand!

HPA Award Committee co-founder Carolyn Giardina was in New Zealand recently and had the opportunity present the Outstanding Visual Effects - Live Action Feature...

20/12/2024

2025 HPA Tech Retreat Reveals Additional Unmissable Programming and Activities

On its 30th anniversary this year, one constant of the HPA Tech Retreat is its unique and consistently engaging programming that goes hand in hand with unparall...

20/12/2024

Seth Hallen Looks Back Over Nine Years As HPA President And Toward The Organization's Bright Future

Seth Hallen had been on the board for seven years before being named president i...

20/12/2024

Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Clear-Com Partnership Refines Communication for...

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...

20/12/2024

Clear-Com Provides Communication Solutions at the 2024 Singapore Airlines Formula 1...

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...

20/12/2024

Sport Lisboa e Benfica Enhances Stadium Communications with Clear-Com's Arcadia...

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...

20/12/2024

Calrec recognised in Feed's Honours List

FEED Honours List | Calrec recognised by FEED for outstanding contribution to sports broadcast FEED's sports broadcast segment Xtreme is taking this opport...

20/12/2024

If you're IP and you know it, clap your hands

If you're IP and you know it, clap your hands (First published by TVB Europe) By Sid Stanley, General Manager at Calrec To mark World Television Day, Calr...

20/12/2024

Sunbeam Television and Nielsen Renew Local TV Measurement Agreement

Multi-year deal includes Local TV and OTT measurement for stations in Boston and Miami Nielsen's Local TV measurement backed by Big Data + Panel NEW YORK ...

20/12/2024

Netflix Scores U.S. Rights to FIFA Women's World Cup

LOS GATOS, Calif. In a historic deal for women's soccer and major sports on streaming services, Netflix has secured the exclusive U.S. rights to the Women&#...

20/12/2024

NextGen TV: The Push Is On

It's sometimes said that trying to get a group of broadcasters to do anything is like trying to herd cats, but if 2025 plays out as some broadcasters hope t...

20/12/2024

Feature Film Mind Body Spirit Captured and Graded with Blackmagic Design

Feature Film Mind Body Spirit Captured and Graded with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton December 20, 2024 0 Comments Filmmakers create found footage loo...

20/12/2024

Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Partners with Vistex

Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Partners with Vistex The partnership will provide students with hands-on experience using the company's...

20/12/2024

Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2025 Warner Music Latina Scholarship

Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2025 Warner Music Latina Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and room and board for the 2025 fall semester...

20/12/2024

WRAZ Raleigh Adopts Advanced HDR by Technicolor for ATSC 3.0 Transmission

RALEIGH, N.C. WRAZ, the Capitol Broadcasting-owned Fox affiliate here, is transmitting content in high dynamic range (HDR) to ATSC 3.0 viewers using Advanced HD...

20/12/2024

Global Virtual Reality Shipments Totaled Nearly 10 Million in 2024

Global shipments of virtual reality and mixed reality headsets are expected to reach approximately 9.6 million units in 2024, representing a year-over-year incr...

20/12/2024

Florida Launches AI-Powered Emergency Communications System

Emergency management officials in Florida are harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to better protect residents from the threat of hurricanes and othe...

20/12/2024

Blackmagic Design Adds Icon View, Other Features to Blackmagic Cloud

FREMONT, Calif. Blackmagic Design today unveiled new features for its Blackmagic Cloud, including a new icon view with thumbnails that can be scrubbed to previe...

20/12/2024

Japanese Anime Animated $19.8 Billion in Global Revenue in 2023

TOKYO A new study highlights the growing importance of Japanese anime in both the entertainment and streaming industries, with Parrot Analytics reporting the ge...

20/12/2024

Canada's Sportsnet Launches Mobile Gaming During Live NHL Telecasts

MESA, Ariz. In a notable example of how networks are looking to provide interactive experiences in live sports broadcasts to boost engagement and ad revenue, mo...

20/12/2024

Goal: Liverpool (assist: Wasabi)

Liverpool Football Club produces over 100 pieces of content every week across its linear TV channel, OTT platform and social media channels. LFC's Drew Cris...

20/12/2024

How AI is reshaping media workflows and competitive strategies

Media Excel CEO Narayanan Rajan ponders whether AI will be the catalyst for medias future, and suggests that companies need to embrace AI today or risk falling ...

20/12/2024

Catching the Christmas train

Filming one of the world's most scenic rail routes in the depths of winter needed a planning operation that was second to none. Sohail Shah, MD of King of S...

20/12/2024

Renderboxes unveils Photon transportable workstation

Compatible with the latest Nvidia RTX GPU, Photon delivers HEPC performance in a transportable chassis By Matthew Corrigan Published: December 20, 2024 Co...

20/12/2024

DCMS announces Creative Industries Taskforce members

The taskforce will inform the Creative Industries Sector Plan, which aims to boost economic growth under the wider Industrial Strategy By Matthew Corrigan Pu...

20/12/2024

Watch: TVBEurope's Story of 2024

TVBEurope takes its annual look back at the biggest events in the media and entertainment industry during 2024, from the rise of AI to major live events, its be...

20/12/2024

SES's Seventh and Eighth O3b mPOWER Satellites Successfully Launched, Bolstering MEO Constellation

Additional satellites bring incremental capacity to scale up services provided b...

20/12/2024

AI Is a Tool, Not a Creative Solution

AI Is a Tool, Not a Creative Solution Andy Marken December 19, 2024 0 Comments What you men call work life' is full of flattery and peer pressur...

20/12/2024

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive is Available to Pre-Order from Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive is Available to Pre-Order from Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton December 19, 2024 0 Comments Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersi...

20/12/2024

Covert Welcomes Mixed-Media Studio Aniverse into Family

Covert Welcomes Mixed-Media Studio Aniverse into Family Brie Clayton December 19, 2024 0 Comments UK-based creative studio Covert is thrilled to annou...

20/12/2024

The CFP Battle Begins: ESPN Covers First Round With Various MegaCast Options, Compact Tech Plan, Team Insights on Conference Networks

The CFP Battle Begins: ESPN Covers First Round With Various MegaCast Options, Co...

20/12/2024

SVG Summit 2024: Tata Communications' Elio Parente on Tapping Into the Company's Media Cloud Infrastructure

SVG Summit 2024: Tata Communications' Elio Parente on Tapping Into the Compa...

20/12/2024

SVG Summit 2024: LTN's Colin Moran on Enabling Customers to Maintain Higher Content Visibility

SVG Summit 2024: LTN's Colin Moran on Enabling Customers to Maintain Higher ...

20/12/2024

SVG Summit 2024: When Sports Became News A Look at the Munich Massacre Through the Golden Globe-Nominated Film September 5

SVG Summit 2024: When Sports Became News A Look at the Munich Massacre Through...

20/12/2024

Netflix Snags Exclusive U.S. FIFA Women's World Cup Rights for 2027, 2031

Netflix Snags Exclusive U.S. FIFA Women's World Cup Rights for 2027, 2031 By Ken Kerschbaumer Friday, December 20, 2024 - 10:08 am Print This Story | ...

20/12/2024

SVTA Announces First Industry Group, The Streaming Sports Council, To Capture Key Technical Challenges in Live Sports Streaming

SVTA Announces First Industry Group, The Streaming Sports Council, To Capture Ke...

20/12/2024

Usyk v Fury 2: How DAZN Will Produce a Cinematic World Feed and Authentic' Unilateral Coverage From Riyadh

Usyk v Fury 2: How DAZN will produce a cinematic world feed and authentic' ...