![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SB_SMT_featured-952x535.jpg\")
Among the many SMT graphic insertions that NBC Sports\u2019 front bench likes to use on replays are player pointers.<\/p>\nA look inside the tech, tools, and the team that make the Super Bowl into true eye candy<\/p>\n
There are many reasons why NBC\u2019s NFL coverage carries such a big-game, eventized feel \u2014 but few are as immediately visible as the network\u2019s commitment tohigh-end, real-time graphics and visual storytelling.<\/p>\n
When Super Bowl LX kicks off on Sunday, SMT will once again sit directly inside NBC\u2019s game-production workflow, delivering the real-time data, virtual graphics, and visualization tools that have become foundational to how football is explained on television.<\/p>\n
Among the many SMT graphic insertions that NBC Sports\u2019 front bench likes to use on replays are player pointers.<\/p>\n
Best known as the company behind the virtual first-down line, SMT is deploying a full suite of virtual graphics, telestration, tracking, statistics, and environmental data systems for the broadcast \u2014 spanning live gameplay, replay analysis, studio shows, and international feeds.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s deployment is highlighted by two major presentation updates: a refreshed visual design for SMT\u2019s DRAGON telestration system that aligns with NBC\u2019s new on-air graphics package, and the broadcast debut of a new augmented-reality wind visualization powered by Unreal Engine and Weather Applied Metrics (WAM).<\/p>\n
Together, the systems are designed to deepen storytelling around strategy, player movement, and game conditions while fitting seamlessly into NBC\u2019s updated broadcast look.<\/p>\n
New Telestration Look Built Into NBC\u2019s Refreshed Graphics Package<\/p>\n
For Super Bowl LX, SMT\u2019s DRAGON production telestrators are rolling out a new visual treatment that matches NBC\u2019s redesigned score bug and insert package.<\/p>\n
Rather than debuting the look for the first time on Super Bowl Sunday, SMT and NBC introduced it during the Wild Card round to give the production and graphics teams real operational runway.<\/p>\n
According to Danny Baker, Coordinating Producer and Super Bowl Team Lead for SMT<\/strong>, that decision significantly reduced risk heading into television\u2019s biggest broadcast.<\/p>\n \u201cWe weren\u2019t going into a Wild Card weekend saying, \u2018let\u2019s see what we\u2019ve got,\u2019\u201d Baker says. \u201cWe had already been testing it, getting feedback, and making changes. Everybody was a lot more comfortable with what we were seeing functionality-wise.\u201d<\/p>\n The advance rollout allowed both sides to refine animation behavior, transitions, and layout details before arriving at the Super Bowl environment.<\/p>\n AR Wind Visualization Makes Its Super Bowl Debut<\/p>\n The most visible innovation in SMT\u2019s Super Bowl toolbox this year is a new AR wind visualization built on Unreal Engine and driven by live stadium-wide wind data from Weather Applied Metrics.<\/p>\n Wind sensors positioned around the stadium generate real-time wind speed and direction data, which SMT converts into on-air AR graphics displayed over optically tracked SkyCam and high-end end-zone cameras. The visualization is designed to illustrate how wind behavior across different areas of the field can influence kicking strategy and outcomes.<\/p>\n Although the system has been monitored and tested during previous games, Super Bowl LX marks its first full broadcast deployment.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it makes air on Sunday, that will be the first time the world has seen it,\u201d Baker says. \u201cThe technology has been ready. We\u2019ve been monitoring it and testing it, but this is the first time it will actually be shown.\u201d<\/p>\n For Lee Brinson, VP of Client Services for SMT<\/strong>, the new visualization opens the door to a different kind of environmental storytelling.<\/p>\n \u201cI really hope it makes air, because it tells a fun story,\u201d Brinson says. \u201cYou can see the field and you can see the direction of the wind and how it\u2019s moving.\u201d<\/p>\n The system is especially relevant at this stadium, where recent structural changes have altered airflow patterns inside the bowl \u2014 one of the reasons the WAM project was originally explored at this venue.<\/p>\n Multi-layer Wind Data Designed For Broadcast Clarity<\/p>\n Behind the scenes, the AR wind system supports multiple height layers across the field, allowing production teams to analyze how wind behaves at different elevations.<\/p>\n For on-air use, however, the design emphasis has been on simplicity and readability. Rather than using complex color schemes or multiple simultaneous layers, the on-air presentation focuses on clear arrows and speed readouts that can be quickly interpreted by viewers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went back and forth on how much to show,\u201d Baker says. \u201cWe decided to keep everything very simple for the audience to read.\u201d<\/p>\n The visualization can be deployed over multiple camera angles, including SkyCam and the primary field-goal cameras, with different layer selections used depending on the shot and the storytelling moment.<\/p>\n Player Tracking, Telestration, and Replay as a Single Workflow<\/p>\n Beyond the new AR layer, SMT\u2019s Super Bowl deployment continues to revolve around tightly integrated telestration and player-tracking workflows.<\/p>\n SMT supports multiple telestrators in both the booth and the production truck, allowing analysts and replay operators to move fluidly between first-look replays and illustrated breakdowns. The telestration layer is deeply embedded in NBC\u2019s replay sequencing.<\/p>\n According to Baker, telestration is no longer reserved for occasional analysis moments.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost crucial to the game,\u201d he says. \u201cWith NBC, almost every replay sequence involves an illustrated loop.\u201d<\/p>\n That includes officiating explanations, eligibility rulings, route identification, and player isolation, along with headshots and player-ID elements used to accelerate viewer recognition.<\/p>\n The emphasis, Baker says, is on being prepared before the request ever comes from the director.<\/p>\n \u201cI love when [NBC Sports\u2019 lead NFL game producer] Rob [Hyland] looks at our screen and says, \u2018oh, SMT\u2019s already there \u2014 take that,\u2019\u201d Baker says. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t have to ask for it. It\u2019s already built.\u201d<\/p>\n That workflow is executed inside NEP\u2019s ND2-D production unit, where SMT\u2019s primary game-coverage positions are staffed by SMART Tele Operator Kyle Henn; Primary Camera First-and-Ten Operator Jason Aldred; First-and-Ten Color Filter and Camera Lead Utility Lance Griffith; High Sky Camera Tracker Operator Josh Berntsen; and Low Sky Camera Tracker Operator Brandon Warren.<\/strong><\/p>\n On-site SMT leadership for the game is led by NBC Sunday Night Football Operations Lead Danny Baker<\/strong> and VP, Client Services Lee Brinson<\/strong>, who oversee SMT\u2019s integration with NBC\u2019s production team and the broader virtual-graphics and data workflows throughout game week.<\/p>\n SMT is also again integrating kick-tracking data into its visualization workflow through collaboration with TrackMan.<\/p>\n TrackMan\u2019s tracking data is used to model kick trajectories, which SMT converts into on-air visualizations and virtual trails to help explain ball flight during field-goal attempts and kickoffs. The kick-tracking layer becomes especially powerful when paired with the new AR wind system, providing both environmental context and ball-flight behavior in the same analysis sequence.<\/p>\n Designing For a Daytime Super Bowl<\/p>\n Super Bowl LX\u2019s daytime kickoff introduces additional challenges for virtual graphics and insertions.<\/p>\n Long shadows and constantly changing light levels increase the complexity of keying and color matching compared with a typical night game. Brinson says the team has been preparing specifically for how lighting conditions affect the consistency and visibility of virtual lines and insertions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt adds a new degree of difficulty,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re used to doing night games. A day game changes the conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n To accommodate that variability, SMT has added additional keying resources for the Super Bowl broadcast.<\/p>\n Supporting Studio Shows, International Feeds, and Overflow Operations<\/strong><\/p>\n In addition to the main game production, SMT is supporting NBC\u2019s studio shows and pregame coverage with telestration tools, stats monitors, ticker systems, and data interfaces.<\/p>\n The operation also extends to international and secondary production environments, including Spanish-language broadcasts and overflow production spaces that rely on SMT\u2019s data feeds even when SMT\u2019s full graphics systems are not deployed directly in the truck.<\/p>\n SMT is also operating from NEP\u2019s ST5<\/strong> overflow unit, which supports supplemental workflows and backup operations throughout the broadcast. That unit is staffed by SMT NBC Client Services Manager Craig Choka; Overflow EIC Stephanie Ruscio; and Overflow Camera First-and-Ten Operator John McDonald.<\/strong><\/p>\n Staffing and Redundancy Built for a Zero-Tolerance Day<\/p>\n For Baker, one of the defining characteristics of SMT\u2019s Super Bowl deployment is not any single technology, but the level of redundancy built into the operation.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the most televised sporting event in America,\u201d he says. \u201cSo we have to treat it as such.\u201d<\/p>\n That approach drives decisions to expand staffing across keying, tracking, and telestration positions and to increase monitoring coverage throughout the workflow.<\/p>\n \u201cYou see all these people and you think, why do you need all these people?\u201d Baker says. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing left to chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Supporting both the main and overflow environments are additional SMT specialists embedded across the broader Super Bowl production footprint, including Game Utility Brandon Curtis; WAM (Weather Applied Metrics) Implementation Lead Jesse Richardson; Game Utility Chris Hale; Pre-game, Halftime and Post-game Studio Support Will Moran; and Telemundo Support Carter Allison.<\/strong><\/p>\n Production Toolkit That Scales With The Show<\/p>\n While many of SMT\u2019s core technologies \u2014 including player tracking, telestration, and virtual insertion \u2014 are not new, Super Bowl LX illustrates how those tools continue to evolve through new presentation styles, new data sources, and tighter integration with replay and storytelling workflows.<\/p>\n Baker credits much of that evolution to how NBC continues to re-imagine the use of long-standing tools.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really good technology \u2014 and it\u2019s super fast,\u201d he says. \u201cBut finding new ways to use things we\u2019ve had for years is what makes the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n At Super Bowl LX, SMT\u2019s role is once again less about introducing isolated features and more about enabling a unified, data-driven storytelling environment \u2014 one in which telestration, tracking, virtual graphics, and environmental data operate as a single production system designed to help viewers better understand what is happening on the field and why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A look inside the tech, tools, and the team that make the Super Bowl into true eye candy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3162],"tags":[53,16,15,3243,3244],"class_list":{"0":"post-751684","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-virtual-reality","8":"tag-technology","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-virtual-reality","12":"tag-vr"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116038002655979038","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SB_SMT_2-1-813x535.jpg\")
SMT\u2019s primary support team for NBC Sports\u2019 NFL coverage: (from left counterclockwise) Kyle Henn, Jason Aldred, Lance Griffith, Josh Berntsen, Lee Brinson, Danny Baker, and Brandon Warren.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SB_SMT_3-1-775x535.jpg\")
SMT\u2019s overflow support team includes (from left) Craig Choka, Stephanie Ruscio, and John McDonald. Alsopictured are Danny Baker and Lee Brinson.<\/p>\n