The newly completed broadcast center is located in the Muma Center and will provide all local broadcasts for ESPN+ and more
TAMPA, JAN. 20, 2021 – A new era in live event streaming is underway in Tampa as USF Athletics has brought on-line a new state-of-the-art production facility that is getting its debut during the 2020-21 basketball season and will soon be broadcasting numerous USF sporting events weekly as many more Bulls teams begin competition this spring.
The Bulls Broadcast & Video Productions Center, which propels USF’s live event streaming capabilities and in-venue production to the forefront of the American Athletic Conference and among the best in the nation, is housed in the Muma Basketball Center adjacent to the Yuengling Center.
The 2,512 square-foot facility occupies space previously used for storage above the men’s and women’s basketball practice gyms and was planned and built over the last year and a half. The majority of the cost for the new studio space and the high-tech equipment it houses came from American Athletic Conference funds designated to bolster streaming capabilities conference-wide on the heels of the conference signing a new 12-year television rights agreement with ESPN, which began in the 2020-21 season.
“We are very excited about how the new studio turned out and the exceptional capabilities it provides to efficiently stream numerous USF Athletics events throughout the year as well as a new and enhanced home for BullsVision and our creative video production team,” Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly said. “It is a big leap forward for our department and the University, and gives us the capability to stream more than 100 events a year to the ESPN+ platform, showcase our student-athletes both in live and packaged productions, and provides a high-level educational facility and opportunity for USF students.”
While housed in the Muma Center, the studio is connected by fiber optic cable to USF’s basketball, baseball, softball, soccer and volleyball facilities as well as the Lee Roy Selmon Athletics Center, and will serve as the hub of live productions of athletic competitions and events taking place in those facilities. USF will also use mobile production units to produce streaming from the track and tennis facilities as well as potentially some golf tournament and sailing competition sites, while broadcasts from Raymond James Stadium will continue as they currently do through remote trucks provided by the broadcast partner.
“I couldn’t be more excited about how the facility turned out and how it will enhance the exposure of USF Athletics,” said Deputy AD Barry Clements, who led the construction effort. “We couldn’t have picked a better, more central location. We leaned on several consultants and a highly respected integrator for design and layout and to advise us on installing the most state-of-the-art equipment. We really optimized what was an empty shell space in one of our preexisting facilities.”
The new facility features 864 square feet of production space and 487 square feet of new office space. Two control rooms, an audio room, a climate-controlled rack room housing the technology that makes it all go, and a storage space adjacent to the office area puts all of USF Athletics video production capability and staff in one space.
“It is a well-designed, collaborative space, which allowed us to move out of the small and dated Yuengling Center control room for in-venue production and consolidate all of the entities that touch video and streaming production into a new modern facility with top-of- the-line equipment,” Clements said.
USF worked with integrator Conference Technologies, INC. (CTI), which built the equipment, boards and racks at its factory in Atlanta and installed them preassembled in the new facility in Tampa. Frederick Watkins Construction built out the wide-open space to support the needed functions and added electrical, ventilation and climate control to what was a storage room.
Planning and design for the facility started in July of 2019 with a committee of USF Athletics administrators. Construction began in April of 2020 and was completed in July, and all the equipment was installed and brought on-line in the fall with training and operational readiness preparations taking place in September. The first event was streamed from the new facility on Nov. 25 when the men’s basketball team took on Florida College in the Yuengling Center and was available nationally on ESPN+. The first women’s basketball game was streamed on Nov. 28 when the Bulls downed Jacksonville on the ESPN+ platform.
The American Athletic Conference and ESPN began a new 12-year television rights agreement starting in 2020-21 that will see nearly all men’s and women’s basketball games available for viewing either via traditional linear networks or digitally through ESPN+. USF plans to stream all home athletic events in baseball, softball, volleyball, and men’s and women’s soccer to ESPN+ this spring and will evaluate opportunities to add streaming events from tennis, track and field and cross country venues.
Subscriptions for the ESPN+ app are $5.99 monthly or $49.99 annually and can be packaged with Hulu and Disney+ streaming services. A step-by-step guide for subscribing to ESPN+ is located here.
About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men’s and women’s teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls’ athletic program began in 1965 and is in its 55th season in 2020-21. Nearly 450 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls have claimed 19 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, and own 120 conference titles overall. The Bulls posted a combined annual grade-point average over 3.0 for the fifth straight year in 2019-20 and have posted a program-record 11 straight semesters with a combined GPA over 3.0. USF has had nearly 400 student-athletes earn their degree since 2016-17.
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