The future is right now at the 51st Players Championship as far as Rick Anderson, Chief Commercial Officer for the PGA TOUR is concerned.
He oversees the brand new 165,000-square-foot production PGA TOUR Studios which house all the sport’s media operations, including live production of PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, more than 5,000 hours of PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+, as well as the TOUR’s expansive roster of more than 50 original, social and digital media platforms.
One year ago, I participated in a limited hard hat walkthrough while it was still being constructed, and today, their senior leadership showed off the finished product.
Since opening in January, it’s been a game-changer in delivering professional golf to fans around the globe. Today, a select group of guests got an up-close glimpse of ESPN BET on PGA TOUR LIVE, the Video Review Center, and the much-anticipated World Feed.
Inside the PGA TOUR Studios Video Review Center, where cutting-edge technology ensures precision and accuracy in every call on the course.
“With the opening of PGA TOUR Studios and the start of the World Feed we are delivering dynamic productions that chronicle the incredible stories of our athletes in a new era of golf media,” Anderson said. “The World Feed will help grow the TOUR’s audience and create new stars on a global basis.”
The World Feed allows the TOUR, through its international media partners, to provide more customized coverage, storytelling and graphics of its international stars, according to Kate Sharp, Senior Vice President, International Media Client Services, whose job it is to strive for balanced storytelling to serve fans beyond U.S. borders, as longtime domestic TV and steaming partners continue to do their thing so deftly in entertaining those of us in North America.
The objective is to produce localized live feeds specific to specific countries with native language announcers and graphics, and a massive step toward improving the international fan experience. Here in Ponte Vedra, 39 international media partners providing coverage in 200 plus countries and territories in 30 languages – yet only one third of the partners are actually on site thanks to all the technology being provided in this building.
The growth of gambling is offering ample opportunity to engage more fans, according to Sarah Pranckevicius, Director, Gaming, PGA TOUR who was working alongside ESPN BET at The Players. It’s a new stream dedicated to a betting audience, taking viewers inside the world of micro-market wagering—bets that focus on a singular hole or shot outcome—in an engaging-fast paced way.
PGA TOUR Studios is also home to the largest library of golf content in the world, featuring more than 170,000 videos totaling 223,000 hours of content, with the earliest being a film transfer from 1920.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this behind-the-scenes tour for me, is the TOUR’s Video Review Center. It’s an immersive studio managed by Mark Dusbabek, Senior Director, Lead TV Rules and Video Analyst. It streamlines on-course rulings through immediate access to shots that require further analysis by rules officials without delay. So it’s doubtful a viewer will ever need to call in again when they think they see a violation on a telecast.
“We already have it covered, and completed before anyone can choose to call in,” Dusbabek said proudly.
With a direct line of communication to tournament rules officials, these referees are more equipped than ever with the video evidence to make the right call. The Video Review Center team members can talk directly to the on-course rules officials through intercom panels at PGA TOUR Studios and radios for the on-course officials. Technical capabilities are headlined by the Hawk-Eye system, which can record up to 144 inputs including cameras and telecasts. This nerve center is integrated with ShotLink powered by CDW data for quick access to specific shots, Full fast forward and rewind capabilities of video feeds. Room dimensions are 340 square feet (20’x17′) and feature 3 workstations.
