One wrong move, one overheated server, and millions would see a frozen screen instead of the augmented reality graphics I worked to keep perfect.
No pressure, right?
In 2023 and 2024, I oversaw technology for Silver Spoon Animation at the Super Bowl, the biggest sports broadcast of the year in the U.S.
Millions watch the game, or the halftime show, or even just the commercials. My focus was on keeping the AR graphics flawless.
This was the most challenging pressure of my working life. I started my career in the world of theater where I spent over ten years programming and engineering video and projection systems for shows on and off Broadway. In this new role, I brought much of what I had learned from designing systems to be reliable night after night for live audiences, but the stakes were higher here. Here we had one chance to get it right with millions of people watching rather than one disappointed audience in theater. No second chances, many unpredictable situations, and for a lot of the broadcast, we were lower down in other people’s priorities.
In an unpredictable Super Bowl game, we could rehearse as much as we wanted, but we couldn’t predict the outcome of the game and some other live logistics.
You don’t know when a network cable might fail or when the air conditioning system will give up, helpful in Las Vegas, so there needs to be a plan and a system in place to manage that.
As you might guess, the pressure was intense, surprises came nonstop, and the risks were high.
Here’s what reinforced my thinking around building systems that can’t fail.
I joined Silver Spoon in late 2022, jumping headfirst into the world of Broadcast. With less than a year of experience, I was already working with Fox Sports on my first Super Bowl and, as Fox likes to do, we were pushing the limits of what was already possible.
Fox wanted to prove something with their opening shot: you could do stable AR graphics on Skycam, the wire-camera system that gives you a birds-eye view of the on-field action.
The traditional methods had significant limitations and often caused AR Graphics to swim across the screen.
We tested a new tracking solution from RaceLogic called AirPixel that used RF Beacons to precisely locate the camera anywhere in the stadium. This solution bypassed the usual problems caused by cable stretch, camera swing, and similar issues. We did numerous proof-of-concept tests in various stadiums. Initial testing was done using Vanilla Unreal and its Composure plugin because the tracking protocol was new and required a dedicated plugin. We knew this was not stable for broadcast (it was still in Alpha at the time), so I turned to Pixotope because I trusted them on air and knew they could quickly integrate the protocol for us.
Our big dress rehearsal was the Championship game in Philadelphia, just a few short weeks before the big game, and unfortunately, the tracking didn't work. This was caused by a last-minute decision to switch RF frequencies to try to avoid complex coordination with the NFL. This meant we would be going into the Super Bowl blind and needed contingency plans.
Fortunately, we came to Phoenix with multiple backup plans. We brought a Pixotope Fly system, which we prepped and had ready to be subbed in. We also did multiple pre-records to send to air if necessary.
We were able to take on extra capacity because we had these backups and could take on the stadium exterior Cable Cam shots, using Fly for tracking and Pixotope for Graphics. The two would never be live at the same time, and we were all comfortable using the backup solution for the preshow’s in-game graphics.
On the big day, everything went according to plan. No contingencies were needed. It was an epic graphics intro for the big game, and Pixotope was a key part of the reason everything went off without a hitch. Looking back, this game was just a small test of what was possible with the right platforms, planning, and designs.
Then came Vegas.
CBS and Nickelodeon: two completely different broadcast realities from the same game. Multiple elements of content, but two different styles. One traditional sports broadcast, the other under the sea, cartoon style.
As Silver Spoon's Director of Technology, I was once again trying to figure out how to make all this a reality.
For the main broadcast, CBS Sports wanted AR elements above the iconic Bellagio fountains for their studio shows and Vegas-inspired in-game graphics.
Photo credit to CBS Sports
Nickelodeon wanted to transform the entire game into an underwater spectacle from Bikini Bottom with the “help” of SpongeBob SquarePants.
The SpongeBob broadcast was its own universe. The ceiling of Allegiant Stadium was replaced with augmented reality as a set extension, placing the entire game at the bottom of the ocean. Live Motion Capture allowed the voiced talents of Patrick and SpongeBob to animate their characters and call the game live alongside the real-life Nate and Noah, all composited into a Virtual Studio placed within the stadium using Augmented Reality.
During the game there were slime cannons in the endzones for touchdowns, the Nickelodeon blimp was flown around the stadium with a game controller, Nickelodeon characters that joined the players on the field, and so much more - all in real-time as AR. To top it all off, there was a pre-rendered edition of "Sweet Victory" set in Allegiant Stadium that went viral.
For three hours of live coverage, the simulcast relocated the Super Bowl action to the SpongeBob SquarePants world of Bikini Bottom. It was a continuous, alternate reality layered over the live sports broadcast. This proved you could create a completely new viewing experience without compromising the game's integrity and bringing in new revenue streams for Ad Sales and Sponsorship.
To make it all work, we ran 36 Pixotope servers with a 32-person crew on site, tracking 15 cameras across three shows. Stage Precision (SP) was the backbone. It unified our systems, allowing us to consolidate servers, manage camera tracking, quickly calibrate key shots, and switch over immediately if something went wrong. SP’s real-time diagnostics and object-based data streams gave us full visibility across all shows, so our operators could react to issues before they became bigger problems.
Pixotope processed several data streams to create two different viewing experiences from the same tracking data. We used the same cameras and the same field, but delivered completely different realities.
Everything was running simultaneously and needed to work perfectly. Logistically, it was tough.
How do you build a system that supports four shows without having to duplicate everything? And how do you keep costs reasonable while still having backups?
The system and workflows had to be both stable and flexible. The system's complexities needed to be transparent to the operators, who had their own challenges to worry about. We had a backup plan upon a backup plan, and had to execute many of them. Many issues were beyond our control, but we needed to accommodate them nonetheless. In the end, there's not much I would have done differently given the same constraints, showing that planning is key.
We built a hybrid system that allowed us to share resources across shows while keeping each production separate. SP lets a single server backup multiple broadcasts, reducing unnecessary backups and helping our team coordinate smoothly across locations.
The hardest part was getting operators and engineers in four locations to work together, all relying on the same setup. We were relying on complex network setups and miles of fiber that were out of our control. If something went wrong, everyone felt it. When things went well, it was because everyone played a part.
The biggest failure we battled was the air conditioning. Forty-five servers generate heat quickly. If the AC can’t keep up, servers overheat and shut down. In a live broadcast, that’s a disaster, especially in Las Vegas. Cooling became just as important as the technology itself.
Photo credit: Silver Spoon.
Silver Spoon produced game-controlled on-field character sand live AR throughout the Super Bowl LVIII broadcast.
Systems can fail, so you have to be prepared. Every backup system we tested in rehearsals was used during the live shows. Not because our main systems failed, but because live broadcasts always bring surprises you can’t fully predict.
Teamwork is more important than individual heroics. The shows worked because operators, engineers, creative teams, and technology providers worked together as a single group. No single person made it happen alone.
Workflows matter more than features. The best technology is the kind people can actually use when they’re under pressure. If your operators can’t use it reliably at 2 am in rehearsal, they won’t be able to use it reliably during the live show.
Scale changes everything. What works in a studio might not work in a stadium. What works for one show gets much more complicated when you’re supporting four at the same time.
In early 2025, I joined Pixotope as Broadcast Solutions Architect.
Now I help customers facing broadcast challenges by sharing learnings from the front line, helping them achieve their vision without running into problems.
Those two Super Bowls showed me what this technology could do when pushed to its absolute limits: where it excelled, where it needed improvement, and where broadcast is heading.
The Super Bowl productions were stressful and exhausting, but also exhilarating. Still, they were only two broadcasts. The challenge now is helping everyday productions achieve the same creative freedom and technical reliability without needing a Super Bowl budget and doing it every single day (or night), just like Broadway.
It’s just as challenging, just as rewarding, and probably much better for my blood pressure.