The greatest show on dirt: Inside our exclusive presentation of NCAA DI Baseball and Softball Championships

If it’s May, that means it’s another year of ESPN raising its presentation of college softball and baseball to new heights. From tape delayed games of the past to exclusive live coverage of every single pitch of both the NCAA Division I Softball and Baseball Tournaments, our commitment to both sports has grown exponentially since the 1980’s. Our exclusive presentation of both championships includes support from countless departments that strategize together on new and exciting ways to showcase the teams and athletes throughout their postseason journeys.

Meg Aronowitz (SVP, Production), Mallory Kenny (Director, Programming & Acquisitions) and Phil Orlins (VP, Production Technology & Innovation) discuss how coverage of each sport has evolved in their time at ESPN and what they are most looking forward to as champions are crowned this June at the Women’s and Men’s College World Series.

How has ESPN’s on-site coverage evolved since your first year working on softball in 2006, and how are you approaching your first baseball postseason?
Aronowitz: My first year overseeing softball we had one truck up on the side of a hill that leaned and there was a crew of maybe 20 people. We were tape delayed for the early round games.

There was a time with college baseball where we did the entirety of Omaha and handed off the finals to CBS. Think of the volume of what we have in the regular season, plus every pitch of the postseason, which all leads up to the showcase that we put on in both Oklahoma City and Omaha.

It’s an event that not everybody can do. It’s a really special team that we have in both places that are really passionate about the sports. To be able to be part of the growth of the sport of softball, I’m honored. It’s probably the thing I’m proudest of in my career – to help cultivate the growth of this sport and I hope to continue to do that with the team on college baseball as well.

What are your biggest takeaways from your first season overseeing both softball and baseball, and how are you approaching the postseason?
Kenny: We are the leaders in the regular season for both baseball and softball thanks to our rights portfolio, so we are able to showcase the best that both of these sports have to offer. It’s cool to be able to tell the story from start to finish as we crown champions of both in June!

Both NCAA tournaments are huge puzzles beginning with our regional coverage. It’s a programmer’s dream to get to place those pieces and I’m excited to see how it plays out as the tournament continues. During regional rounds, our 7 Innings Live and Squeeze Play coverage is unmatched, and having a consistent home for both postseason tournaments in Oklahoma City and Omaha really adds to the specialness.

The last 10 years, we’ve elevated both sports across our platforms and our conference networks have absolutely helped in that effort. This year, both the Women’s College World Series and the Men’s College World Series will have windows on ABC and that just speaks to the belief we have in the postseason for these sports.

Why have the WCWS and MCWS been a proving ground for new innovations?
Orlins: Ten consecutive days of games in the same stadium makes both ideal locations to develop and workshop new technologies. Over the years, we have implemented live microphones on all umpires, which was an early and important enhancement that has withstood the test of time. UmpCam on the home plate umpire mask has advanced over the past five years and is a ubiquitous part of our MLB coverage in addition to the MCWS. The MCWS was one of the first ESPN events to aggressively use live drone coverage on every game and was also the first place we used C360 cameras, 4D replay featuring a 180-degree array of cameras and MindFly cameras on base umpire

ESPN’s exclusive presentation of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla. begins on May 29, running through June 6. The Road to Omaha gets underway on Friday, May 30 and the Men’s College World Series from Omaha, Neb. begins Friday, June 13.

Katie Callahan also contributed to the above post