Manufacturers say affordable, accessible technology can expand deployment
When it comes to sound, one of the most glaring differences between professional and college sports is that schools and the NCAA have been adamantly opposed to bugging their athletes, even as the major leagues seemingly place them everywhere.
That may change in the future. The NCAA has recently given the green light to some major rule changes, including allowing Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams to plug a player on the field into a helmet microphone to communicate with coaches. . Penn State has already announced that its quarterbacks and middle linebackers will wear the microphones.
“The use of technology has been on the committee’s agenda for several years and the time is right to introduce it to NCAA football,” he says Big Ten Vice President, Football Administration, AJ Eddswho co-chairs the conference’s football rules committee, in a statement from the NCAA.
It probably won’t be long before college intercoms are operating at near-professional levels. But the transition will not be without obstacles.
“Often in college sports,” he observes Sara Seidel, Regional Marketing Manager, Americas, Riedel, “you will see the students executing the operations. These students ride bikes (during their time at school), so the equipment has to be intuitive and easy to use, as they may be very new to the idea of communications and the entire sports production process. Depending on the university, the funds for the initial purchase and maintenance may not be as high (as for professional equipment) and, with inexperienced users, more crashes and mishandling may occur, so they (communications systems) must be able to endure a lot. from abuse and continue working.”
An RF receiver (the green dot shown on the Green Bay Packers helmet) will soon be allowed on some NCAA helmets.
However, he says, strong communications at the collegiate level are just as necessary as they are for the pros: “College games have a lot of fan participation during the games, (including) people coming down to the court or field for special contests.” , as well as marching bands and cheerleaders. Ensuring all of this happens smoothly requires communication.”
Seidel notes that communications are increasingly essential to collecting and capturing audio content in the field for use beyond in-game sound effects. He notes that the Bolero wireless packs used by the Georgia Tech Bulldogs can connect to the team’s Bluetooth headsets for sideline interviews.
“We see that as professional sports leagues move toward certain communications-related technologies and workflows, within a few years, Division 1 conferences will begin to adopt similar technologies,” he says Rick Seegull, Senior Vice President of Technology and Business Development, Americas, Riedel. “As (Tier 1 schools) make major improvements, they tend to want a flagship system and copycat systems at pro-level stadiums. Division 1 is more similar to the major league level and (schools) generally have a more traditional broadcast team, but it still comes down to budget.”
Others have noted the same dynamic. Tom Buffolano, Director of Business Development, College Sports, The Switch/TATA Communicationssays, “In terms of audio as part of an on-site presentation, schools have taken a page from professional sports, with boisterous pregame presentations, eye-catching videos and music that excite and engage the crowd in a game.”
There is still a way to go
NCAA rules continue to restrict the use of wireless audio for athletes and officials. The 2023-24 NCAA Men’s Basketball Rule Book says: “Players and team members are not permitted to use a microphone or any other equipment that permits the transmission of sound from a player to a receiver off the court.” (Rule 1/Field and Equipment, Section 26, article 9). Football is less dogmatic: “The commission debated wearable technologies exhaustively. The committee invites non-FBS conferences that are interested in wearable technologies to submit an experimental proposal to the committee.”
Says Paul Johnson, CEO, Q5X, which makes microphone systems for players and officials, “we have not yet seen an increase in player audio at the college level that would parallel the increases in professional sports. Some colleges continue to express interest in the Q5X PlayerMics and CoachMics, but most use is limited to practices as the NCAA still has very strict guidelines restricting the use of technology, including player microphones, during the games”.
However, he notes, some schools are using these wireless systems during practices to create videos and packages for websites and social media. “Some coaches use PlayerMics on athletes during warm-ups and practices to capture audio and review it with players for training purposes.”
More affordable and less complicated technology
Integrating more communications for collegiate sports seems inevitable for numerous applications beyond connecting athletes for sound, and doing so is already becoming less expensive and easier to implement.
“From team and coaching staff coordination, coach-player communications, official communications and instant replay to broadcaster and stadium facility needs, as well as actual school production needs, virtually any frequency available It’s a rare commodity,” he explains. Gary Rosen, Vice President of Global Sales, Pliant Technologies. “The amount of wireless communications has increased dramatically in the last five years. (They will have to) be operated by volunteers from schools, so having systems that are affordable and easy for teams to implement is essential.”
The Telos Infinity communication system at Notre Dame Studios Martin Media Center
Telos Alliance Vice President of Business Development Martin Dyster sees the evolution of communications in college sports following the same steps as in the majors, but notes that even as product costs decline, college athletic departments’ equipment choices must be proportional to their team budgets. the schools.
“Broadcasting college sports in the United States is a multi-layered endeavor,” he says, “ranging from primetime productions with national appeal, such as the Rose Bowl, to more specialized sporting events with local audiences. Whatever the scale of the event and the size of the audience, content producers will want to create the best viewing experience they can within the available budget, and the intercom system will need to align with expectations and workflows. of production. For example, a Rose Bowl production with more than 30 cameras will have a production crew similar in size to Monday Night Football (KeynoteUSA), while a campus lacrosse game may be covered by a crew from one fraction of that. .”
Dyster cites communications technology options at top-tier schools, such as at Notre Dame Studios’ Martin Media Center, as necessary to produce results equivalent to professional productions. “Universities of all sizes typically have their own broadcast production facilities and teams capable of producing content across campus,” he notes, “but not all universities have access to the same level of investment in technology that Notre Dame was able to. carry out. As audio over IP has become ubiquitous in almost all intercom products and options, both for centralized and decentralized matrix-less communication systems, such as our own Telos Infinity, users can choose from a wide range of solutions capable of fit your budget without compromising your productions.”
Standalone prosumer-level solutions can offer an alternative for lower-tier universities and their smaller budgets, especially for smaller venues and productions. However, Dyster warns that entry-level communications solutions have their drawbacks: “Such systems generally cannot synchronize or integrate with professional wireless equipment, including communications, microphones, IFBs, and even security and event communication systems, for example. The lack of frequency diversity and a means to adjust the output power can also be problematic in terms of interference with other wireless technologies on game day.”
Pliant’s Rosen adds: “Universities own their own equipment and travel with that equipment. Stadiums (at the upper levels) may have some fixed (in-stadium) systems, but there are still many competing devices. More often than not, major leagues have the budget for professionals to design and implement their systems.”
Is coming…
Challenges or not, college sports have been adding communications systems in increasing numbers in recent years, driven by the need to emulate the professional leagues their students strive for and to better match streaming experiences. the spectators.
Q5X’s Johnson hopes to see a shift in thinking in college sports organizations, perhaps presaged by the recent relaxation of name/image/likeness rules. “His stance on capturing player audio during games seems to be driven by the notion that it would somehow be used to cheat or create an unfair advantage for one team or another during the game,” he suggests. he. “However, professional leagues managed to overcome this concern and realized that the added dimension of athlete audio brings great value to viewers/audiences, both live and in post-production. “Professional sports have recognized that using athletes with microphones strengthens the fan base.”
With student-athletes in all three NCAA divisions now able to receive payments for the use of their name, image and likeness and professional athletes increasingly using their own audio to boost their brands online and on social media , communications convergence and universities are likely to become even deeper in the near future.
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