Sony’s IPELA® visual communications solutions are getting a lot of playing time in the professional sports world. For the second consecutive year, a major cable sports network used Sony’s IPELA technology to provide broadcasting services during the live television coverage of the National Football League draft.

Sony IPELA visual communications systems were utilized at the draft headquarters of each of the National Football League’s 32 teams, to conduct interviews between team personnel and analysts from the draft’s cable broadcaster.

The use of this type of visual communications technology spared the teams the trouble and expense of placing satellite trucks at their facilities—at the potential cost of thousands per day—and allowed them to simply communicate over a network connection from each location to the main broadcast center.

“Both the league and the broadcast network took advantage of Sony IPELA visual communications to deliver real time video from the ‘war rooms’ of all 32 pro football teams,” said Mike Sekiguchi, general manager of Sony’s IPELA Visual Communications group.  “And the picture was full-motion/full-resolution, so viewers were witness to unprecedented access to coaches and general managers, while the network benefited from its ability to provide up-to-the-minute coverage and live interviews with a new level of spontaneity.”

The draft is not Sony’s only connection with the National Football League. Sony visual communications technology is also being used by the NFL Network, the only television network dedicated to the league and the sport of football.  The solution is implemented across the NFL Network’s footprint, including the 32 team locations. The Sony IPELA technology is used to support the network’s signature show, enabling live interviews with coaches and players via “Team Cam.” 

The league network also used Sony IPELA technology for live interviews conducted by its crews during the draft.