SAN ANTONIO – The hub of producing UTSA Athletics live game broadcasts and sharing the stories of the Roadrunners’ nearly 400 student-athletes launched in March with two state-of-the-art broadcast control rooms inside the Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence.
The new control rooms, which were built and fitted at a cost of more than $5 million, will allow UTSA Athletics to produce top-quality live productions that meet the standards set forth by the American Athletic Conference and ESPN.
Moving forward, the UTSA Athletics broadcast control rooms will produce ESPN+ broadcasts for all UTSA men’s and women’s basketball home game broadcasts, as well as the majority of home game broadcasts for baseball, soccer, softball and volleyball. In addition, the control rooms will be used for live video board productions for events in the Convocation Center.
“We have invested significant resources in building these control rooms that put us on the cutting edge of college athletics live broadcasting,” said Lisa Campos, UTSA Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics. “We talk all the time about how athletics really is the front porch of the university. These broadcasts on ESPN+ help expand the visibility of the UTSA brand and tell the stories of our student-athletes. That reach also helps increase enrollment and enhances the value of the UTSA degree.”
The broadcast control room project has been a collaboration between the UTSA Department of Facilities, led by project manager Andrew Goodenough, UTSA Assistant Vice President for Revenue Generation and Special Projects Darren D’Atillio, and Assistant Athletics Director for Creative Services Katie Meyers, who oversees broadcast production for UTSA Athletics.
“Completing the broadcast production project was no small feat,” Meyers said. “It took more than two years of planning and execution from a number of parties, including UTSA Athletics, the American Conference, ESPN, as well as our external partners who assisted us in the build and execution of the physical control room and the elements in our facilities.”
By the conclusion of the 2023-24 academic year, UTSA Athletics will have produced nearly 70 live broadcasts both internally and in conjunction with Jeff Watts Productions.
“There is no bigger and brighter resource than national attention, and the opportunity to highlight our student-athletes, coaches and staff regularly on a national stage will positively impact all aspects of the university,” Meyers said. “This visibility and exposure will impact recruitment, fan engagement, revenue generation and the enhancement of our overall brand.”
The UTSA softball doubleheader against North Texas on March 15 marked the inaugural live events produced out of the UTSA Athletics broadcast control room.
“The opportunity to be in the control room the minute we went live on ESPN+ for the first time was unmatched,” Meyers said. “Seeing months of dedication, effort and hard work come to life on live television was one of the best experiences of my life.”
To conduct a live broadcast, UTSA Athletics employs a freelance staff of up to 12 members per game, including a play-by-play announcer, color analyst, producer, director, broadcast engineer, graphics operator, replay operator, camera shader, three camera operators and an audio engineer.
UTSA Athletics has hired Elliott Griesen as the Director of Sports Production, beginning April 22, to oversee the day-to-day operations of UTSA Athletics’ live broadcast and video board productions.
UTSA Athletics expects to produce more than 100 live events annually through its new broadcast control rooms.