Lipscomb's ESPN3 production sets national standard
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
As Aristotle once asserted, the “things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”
A team of budding television production students are getting a unique opportunity to do just that by producing Lipscomb University’s ESPN3 coverage under the tutelage of Jamie Gilliam, assistant athletic director for communication and broadcasting, and Austin Gwin, athletics video production coordinator.
Sports enthusiasts know that ESPN is one of the oldest, most comprehensive sources of sports news and coverage. Part of the network’s portfolio of properties is ESPN3, an online streaming service that provides live streams and replays of sporting events around the world, reaching more than 99 million viewers.
Since 2012, Lipscomb’s involvement in the ESPN3 college initiative has helped Bison fans around the world keep up with their favorite teams’ games.
“When we embarked on this initiative, the SEC Network and other specialized sports networks didn’t exist,” Gilliam recalls. “Technology was advancing and the Atlantic Sun (Conference) selected Lipscomb as a trial site to produce ESPN3 game coverage. With our Entertainment and Technical Services (ETS) unit, we had knowledgeable staff in place, so it made sense to give it a try. We were the third mid-major college, and the first in the Southeast, to launch an ESPN3 program.”
The Atlantic Sun Conference helped get the project off the ground by providing for a new control room in Allen Arena a state-of-the art Ross production switcher and Ross Xpression graphics unit that gives each broadcast the ESPN look.
ESPN sent a team to train Gilliam and his student production assistants during the fall of 2012 to get Lipscomb’s program off the ground. The first year, the Lipscomb crew started its game coverage with volleyball matches, including the Atlantic Sun conference tournament games, and men’s and women’s basketball games. Plans are underway to expand the project to cover Bison baseball and softball games. A second production and control room in Draper Diamond at Smith Stadium softball press box should be in place when the season starts in February, Gilliam says.
“Lipscomb was one of the first school partnerships we established with an institution of its size,” says Brent Colborne, director of programming and acquisitions at ESPN. “Since that time Lipscomb has taken a very aggressive approach to providing quality content and production value. We are proud of our relationship with Lipscomb University.”
Lipscomb’s operation relies heavily on student talent. But Gilliam, Gwin, ETS and their student team produce a high-quality product that has set the standard for ESPN3 college productions.
“It is because of schools like Lipscomb, who have paved the way for universities of their size, that other institutions have the confidence to launch their own ESPN3 programming,” says Colborne. “We recognize the hard work that Lipscomb invests in making its ESPN3 production top-quality. Lipscomb has a cutting-edge program and has set the standard.”
The goal is for the ESPN3 viewers to receive a professional-level broadcast that is no different from watching programming on one of the network’s flagship stations such as ESPN or ESPN2.
“Our broadcasts are considered at the top of schools at our level,” says Gilliam. “We have very talented students and a staff who put together a top-notch product. Our goal is for the viewer to think that everything we broadcast is produced using a multi-million-dollar production truck. Ultimately, our broadcasts should have the same look and feel as ESPN’s linear broadcasts.”
Alumnus Michael Fox (’14), who was one of the first student workers involved in the launch, says advances in technology have helped the university produce programming that mirrors the quality of a high-priced production truck.
“Lipscomb’s program was one of the first in the country to train with technology that would prove to officially change the landscape of live sports production,” recalls Fox. “Ever wonder, when watching a Lipscomb event on ESPN3, where the production truck is located on campus? Lipscomb produces events all within a central control room located inside Allen Arena. The era of production trucks is slowly diminishing in college sports.”
Students are gaining valuable experience through Lipscomb’s ESPN3 program.
“The students are running cameras, capturing what’s happening on the playing field. They’re doing the replays and the graphics that are on the screen. They are running the control room. This program gives our students all kinds of opportunities to learn a variety of real-world experiences because they are the ones in the field making this happen,” says Gilliam.
“There are so many benefits for students who work on an ESPN3 production team,” Colborne agrees. “They get hands-on experience, make connections with people in the industry and their work gets national exposure. And we know they are working hard to produce a quality product.”
Junior Tanner Allen says his goal is to pursue a career in sports reporting and broadcasting and that his experience at Lipscomb is helping prepare him to be successful in that quest.
“I am learning about every aspect of broadcasting, and that can help me in the future,” says Allen, of Brentwood, Tennessee. “I've already been able to work with the Nashville Sounds (minor league baseball team) and at Vanderbilt (University) doing some of the work I learned in Lipscomb’s ESPN3 program.”
Fox is now the ESPN3 and video coordinator for Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. In this role, he oversees the day-to-day operations of Mercer’s ESPN3 program, Mercer Video Productions, which covers football, men’s and women’s basketball and men’s lacrosse and includes more than 40 students.
“I am blessed to have been one of the first student workers involved in the initiative,” recalls Fox, who is also pursuing a master’s degree in higher education leadership at Mercer. “The experience I gained from Lipscomb’s program has been the catalyst for my career and has helped me earn an opportunity to lead another university in building their ESPN3 program. Lipscomb’s program was a vital resource for leadership development and gaining professional skills.
“The opportunity to work (in the Lipscomb ESPN3 program) as an undergraduate will likely provide most students with a job after graduation,” Fox continues. “The beauty of it all is that you never have to leave campus to have ESPN on your resume.
“If it were not for the Lipscomb program, I would not have had the opportunity to become the first student to direct the first school-produced college football game on ESPN3 in history (at Mercer). The experience I gained working almost every Lipscomb ESPN3 event since 2012 has catapulted me into producing and directing roles for more than 10 college football and 40 college basketball games on ESPN3.”
Lipscomb coaches have also found the ESPN3 broadcasts to be helpful in recruiting student athletes.
“ESPN is the worldwide leader of sports and our affiliation with ESPN3 is a real asset for our program,” said Casey Alexander, Lipscomb’s head men’s basketball coach. “Being able to tell a recruit and his parents they can watch every home game live has been very valuable for us in recruiting. Video streaming is very popular and accessing broadcasts are easier than ever before, but nothing compares to the quality we get with ESPN3.”
Bison fans can access Lipscomb’s ESPN3 broadcasts at www.lipscombsports.com/ESPN or via the WatchESPN app.