Bexel Aces Buildout of ESPN U.S. Open Facility
Over the years, the amount of energy required by Bexel to help build out U.S. Open facilities for CBS Sports and the USA Network has always been a challenging task, but the addition of ESPN and a quick ramp-up schedule this summer made Bexel’s U.S. Open effort an all-hands-on deck experience. “Every office pitched in, and we have racks here from every office,” says Joe Wire, Bexel Broadcast Services VP.
![Lane Robbins of Bexel with the heart of ESPN's U.S. Open facility: the EVS XT[2] servers](http://sportsvideo.org/main/usopen2009/files/2009/09/lane.jpg "lane")
Lane Robbins of Bexel with the heart of ESPN's U.S. Open facility: the EVS server room.
The core of the project was putting together an EVS server system that includes 14 XT[2] servers with Turbo functionality (and 3 TB of storage each) to handle HD material and three EVS XL[2] servers to handle low-res proxies of the HD material.
The servers are located on the second floor of a large broadcast cabin (CBS Sports is on the first floor) and is used by ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, ESPN 360, and ESPN Interactive TV. Avid editing systems and a 32-TB Avid Unity, VizRT graphics, and a wealth of Evertz gear is also on hand; and all of the systems also are tied into 22 outgoing transmission paths that connect the U.S. Open ESPN compound with Bristol, CT.
The low-res network and servers are in place to move content easily over the facility’s Gigabit Ethernet infrastructure. EVS IP Director systems allow personnel to browse for clips using a Windows-based GUI. Bexel Broadcast Services Systems Engineer Lane Robbins (pictured) played a key role in the effort alongside Bexel Engineer in Charge John Steinmetz. “We never had the entire facility built until it got here [to the USTA],” says Steinmetz. “The [rental company] that is most available and most flexible will win the day.”
Robbins says the Bexel EVS equipment is located in Dallas, making the Dallas office an important hub in the U.S. Open project. Racks for the project were sent to New York from facilities all across the U.S. and then met up with the incoming EVS and other equipment.
“Two racks of DA equipment were pre-wired,” adds Robbins, “but we basically came in here knowing what feeds we had to have and what needed to be sent out.”
