Fox Sports Launches Groundbreaking New Led-Fueled XR/AR Stage
FOX Sports continues to blaze the trail in XR technology and virtual production with the relaunch of Stage B at its L.A. headquarters early September. Home to FOX NFL Kickoff on Sunday mornings and Colin Cowherd’s The Herd on weekdays, the rebuilt studio is a sprawling LED medium, with all LED supplied by ROE Visual.
The revamp of Stage B follows in the footsteps of FOX’s Stage A, which launched in 2022 and serves as the home to the network’s flagship NFL on FOX pregame show. Previously a practical set, Stage B’s LED volume is more than twice the size of Stage A. The photorealistic environment enables FOX Sports to transform the set backdrop into a virtual representation of any NFL stadium or a variety of other locales, affording infinite opportunities for storytelling and analysis.
Stage B will also serve as home to FOX’s MLB Postseason coverage during the Divisional Series this fall and is expected to play a role in other marquee FOX Sports properties like college football and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Inside Stage B: A Fully LED-Based Feast for the Eyes
As opposed to Stage A, which is composed of roughly 1/3 LED medium and 2/3 practical set, Stage B is entirely LED-based. The ROE Visual LED medium is just under 20ft tall and is composed of 42-ft-wide left and right walls, a 72-ft-wide back wall, and a full LED floor. The LED Walls have a pixel count of over 35 million pixels, and the LED Floor has over pixels. ROE Visual delivered over 1100 panels of Black Pearl BP2V2 and nearly 800 panels of Black Marble BM4 LED floor for this project.
The facility is equipped with ten broadcast studio cameras, including eight robotic cameras, a Techno Jib, and a SteadiCam – all equipped with stYpe camera tracking technology for AR graphics.
Behind the Scenes: A Full Battery of Technical Infrastructure Powering It All
To power Pixotope’s Unreal Engine-based system that feeds content to the XR LED walls, FOX is running 24 high-powered real-time render workstations featuring Megapixel processors. An additional eight high-powered real-time render workstations are on hand to drive the AR camera composition being done with Pixotope’s Unreal Engine-based system.
FOX is also leveraging the same GhostFrame technology it used on Stage A to provide four different tracked/rendered camera perspectives – a feature that has been a hit with production leaders and viewers alike.
In terms of UI, FOX Sports is utilizing Erizos Studio software to control the various components of the XR stage, including both Unreal elements and Vizrt insert graphics. Inside Studio B, The Herd continues to run on Ross Video’s Overdrive production automation system as it did prior to the studio relaunch.
You might also like...
Standards: Audio - ID3 Metadata Tagging
Metadata tagging is easily overlooked but essential for managing audio assets throughout a production workflow. Here we offer practical guidance on embedding and converting metadata across common audio file formats.
Broadcast Standards - The Science Of AI: Machine Learning
Based on statistical analysis principles and a variety of training methods and algorithmic techniques, Machine Learning is the foundation upon which many flavors of AI are built. But what exactly is it learning and how does it do it?
Virtual Production For Broadcast: The Magic Of Subframe Technology
Subframe technology solves a fundamental challenge in virtual production, enabling LED video walls to display different images to multiple cameras at the same time. This allows each camera in a multi-camera setup to see its own perspective-correct background on a…
Standards: Audio - High Efficiency Audio Codecs (HE-AAC)
HE-AAC builds on the foundations of AAC to deliver near CD-quality audio at bitrates as low as 32 kbps, making it the codec of choice for mobile TV, digital radio and low-bandwidth streaming. This guide unpacks the key technologies behind its…
The Changing Face Of Live Sports: Part 1 - The Rise Of Nimble Production
Live sports broadcasting has always been the preserve of big leagues and big broadcasters with the infrastructure, the clout and the resources to match. But it is no longer the only game in town.