Fox Sports is deploying a wide array of video and audio technology for its coverage of the 2017 World Series, including burying a bunch of microphones in the field.
In a continuation of the audio work it rolled out at the MLB All-Star Game, Fox Sports is placing 14 underground microphones strategically around the playing field. According to TV Technology, those mics will be placed in the outfield, on the edge of the infield and at each base.
Michael Davies, senior vice president of Field & Technical Operations for Fox Sports, told the publication that the omnidirectional mics pick up more than parabolic microphones and that their placement is so unobtrusive that Fox had to mark them so they could find them again after the game.
In all, Fox has 80-plus game-action microphones it’s using on-site and an additional 15 to 20 mics available for managers, coaches, umpires and players.
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Fox is also deploying eight motion cameras to cover the action.
“We will have eight Super Slow Motion and Hyper Motion Cameras, including the FOX Phantom Cameras, at either side of the plate to capture at-bats and close plays at a blistering 1,500 frames per second,” said Davies in a statement. “Quite simply, it’s more Motion Cameras in play than at any other baseball game on any network this season.”
Fox said it’s also working with SMT and MLBAM for technologies including a live strike zone that incorporates data captured using MLBAM Statcast radar technology to show pitch speed and location in real time, as well as using MLBAM’s Pitchcast system to show pitch speed, location and ball trails, while splitting the data into different varieties.