Once the a new 3,500-seat stadium was built on the campus of Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, the students experienced a major expansion of the higher learning institution’s Athletics and Media Services Departments.

This included transitioning the school’s existing TV studio and control room to an end-to-end HD production workflow, with Tightrope Media Systems’ ZEPLAY supporting lightning-fast, on-demand instant replay of existing game action and key highlights.

The stadium build out and control room upgrades were aligned with the formation of the Southeastern Fire football program. To stimulate fan engagement inside the stadium, the Media Services Department wanted an affordable, multi-channel instant replay server that would deliver high-quality video clips, yet was simple enough for students to operate with minimal training. 

“Of all the capital improvements we have made, ZEPLAY has done the most to enhance the game day experience,” said Ian Fritzsche, Director of Media Services, Southeastern University. “ZEPLAY was half the price and offered twice the functionality other comparable systems on the market, with a faster learning curve and better ease of use."

The learning curve was critical since during sports and live events it's the broadcast students themselves who run most of the control room equipment. After running ZEPLAY in demo mode to accelerate operational familiarity, students very quickly mastered advanced ZEPLAY features, such as building highlight packages at halftime and following the game.

Fritzsche wanted to make sure his broadcast students were learning skills that would pay off in the real world.

“Producing great-looking and entertaining sportscasts is a priority for us, but giving our broadcasting students practical, hands-on experience is equally important,” he said. “We wanted a replay system that our student would likely encounter as they seek professional media jobs upon graduation. Since ZEPLAY is widely installed, our students will be qualified to operate it given their experience running it in our live sports productions.”