By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, January 16, 2025 – 3:19 pm
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In a first for a regional sports network, Altitude Sports & Entertainment has installed a permanent Skycam system at Ball Arena in Denver that will serve all of its Nuggets and Avalanche broadcasts for the rest of the season. Altitude and Skycam, which are both owned by Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, first debuted the system on Dec. 22 for the Avs’ matchup against the Seattle Kraken and launched permanently on Jan. 14 for the Avs game against the New York Rangers.
“We’ve talked for a few years about installing Sky Cam at Ball Arena, and within the past year those talks have increased and I’m ecstatic that it came to fruition,” says Matt Krol. “I’m looking forward to this being a regular staple of our broadcasts, bringing a playoff-level look every game night at Ball Arena.”
Within the past year, KSE has made a concerted effort to leverage its properties across the world, which include Altitude and Skycam along with six pro sports teams (the Nuggets and Avs, Arsenal FC, Colorado Rapids and Mammoth, and L.A. Rams) and a variety of real estate holdings of which Ball Arena is part of.
“This collaboration has been in the works for some time, but it truly gained momentum following a key meeting with our internal KSE team,” says Stephen Wharton, GM/COO/CTO, Skycam. “Building on the success of our NFL systems, this partnership was a natural progression. However, it required the right timing and local support to handle the high volume of events effectively.”
The operator suite above section 322 was custom designed by Skycam and the location provides the system with plenty of opportunity and overhead to not only cover Avs and Nuggets games, but also the myriad of concerts and other events that roll through Ball Arena throughout the year.
“We needed to find the right home for the system,” says Wharton. “With as many games as we will do out of Ball Arena, we wanted there to be a forever home for Skycam so we put the effort into doing it right and building out a custom suite above section 322.”
While Krol says there was some initial uncertainty internally as to how the addition of a Skycam would impact the live-broadcast workflow for the front bench, the production team quickly embraced the new tool as part of its regular complement.
“We had discussions on where to use, where not to, and how it will impact our look across the board,” says Krol. “When our Avalanche Director, Travis Honderd, used it for the time on Dec. 22, he texted me after the game saying, ‘Yeah Skycam is better than I expected, such a fun toy.’ It’s going to be fun to discover new, exciting ways to enhance our broadcast through Skycam.”
Krol says the benefits are already being seen in the broadcast with the Skycam providing a more overhead view that allows fans a better viewpoint to see plays develop.
“There is no doubt this will change the way we produce games,” he says. “We have all seen the Skycam in action for NFL events and how that changed the broadcasts. This will do the same for our broadcasts on Altitude. It will take some getting used to for fans, but we already have seen some great looks from the Skycam for replays and break downs of plays that you can’t see from the traditional game camera angle.”
The installation at Ball Arena is the first in what Wharton hopes will be a new model that will elevate not only the broadcast side, but also enhance in-venue experiences and team assets. Similar to how it handles team-installed systems at NFL stadiums, Skycam plans to offer national networks the opportunity purchase control of the system when they visit Ball Arena.
“We plan to offer national package opportunities,” says Wharton, “that are centered around growth and exposure, leveraging the system, its sponsors and our relationships with the Networks to make sure that all boats rise with the rising tide.”
In addition, Skycam sees the Ball Arena installation as a significant opportunity to train new technicians and provide them with regular hands-on real-game experience.
“As a company committed to growth and innovation, this setup also allows us to experiment with new technologies and quickly integrate them into our workflows,” says Wharton. “Additionally, it facilitates the expansion of our remote graphics, AR tracking workflows, and remote operator workflows, enabling us to refine and enhance these processes”
On the regional side, Altitude plans to share the Skycam with visiting RSNs at no additional cost.
“I’m hoping other RSNs take advantage of this and use this for their broadcasts at Ball Arena,” he says. “We value our relationships with the other RSNs as we often share and trade to help each other out, and with the television landscape the way it is, we all need all the help we can get.”
The arrival of Skycam is just the latest chapter in what has been an eventful few months for Altitude. In addition to inking a local over-the-air rights agreement with TEGNA and launching its Altitude+ direct-to-consumer streaming app, Altitude recently revamped the look of its pre- and post-game studio shows to incorporate fans more at Ball Arena. It’s all part of Altitude’s effort to enhance the value proposition for local fans.
“First [to launch Skycam] doesn’t matter to me; we all have new toys and different ways of doing the broadcasts,” says Krol. “My goal is to bring the best broadcast possible to our Avalanche and Nuggets fans, and Skycam is a huge leap forward in enhancing these broadcasts. With changes coming in the national landscape, we need to show our fans – either through new toys or new ways of doing shows – that the best coverage of their home teams is the home broadcast on Altitude Sports.”
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