RocketMortgage FieldHouse Upgrades Arena With Telemetrics Robotics For Complete Coverage of Multiple Live Sports Events

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, home to the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers has installed four new PT-LP-S5 heads, mounted on the center scoreboard, and a RCCP-2A STS robotic camera control panel with Studio Software from Telemetrics. The upgrade follows a move to 2110 IP networking at the venue, which the new Telemetrics equipment is now an important part of. The venue is also used by the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters for all of its home games.

The Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse had been operating with Telemetrics camera robotics installed back in 2015 before the recent update.

The four new Telemetrics pan/tilt heads (with Sony HDC-P31 cameras) are mounted underneath the scoreboard and used extensively to shoot the scoreboard as well as to provide fan entertainment shots by panning over the crowd (e.g., “Kiss Cam” and “Ball Toss”). The robotic camera heads are also used for parts of live game coverage during Cavaliers games to capture the Upper Concourse and Club levels, as well as during hockey games for goalie shots, the penalty box, TV booth announcers, coaches, and half court views (for 3-point line and farther).

“The Telemetrics robotic heads are used constantly and are an important part of the way we produce our shows here,” says Joe Frietchen, Vice President of Broadcast Operations and Engineering.

The modern sports venue had been operating with Telemetrics camera robotics originally installed back in 2015 before the recent update. Owing to the products’ reliability and longevity, much of that original Telemetrics robotic camera control equipment has been repurposed a few miles away at the historic Cleveland Public Hall to help produce home games for the Cleveland Charge, an NBA G League team that is distributed by the Rock Entertainment Network. This includes beauty shots, announce positions, and other types of traditional camera positions.

“We’ve got both arenas pretty much covered from all angles with robotic cameras [both Telemetrics and others], which seamlessly support our fixed position broadcast cameras,” says Frietchen. “We also have two RCCP-2A STS controllers that sit side by side in in the same control room, which can be split for individual functionality or used in tandem, depending upon the event.”

Frietchen said he’s a huge fan of Telemetrics products and systems, because they are reliable and capture shots that can’t be done with a human operator.

“I used Telemetrics in my previous control room for ten years, so I know the technology and how I can use it to my benefit,” he says. “We’ve done more than a dozen home games with the new equipment so far and it’s been going great. I always say, ‘if you have something that works and it’s steady and it’s reliable, you stick with it.’ That’s why I went back to Telemetrics again for this new arena upgrade. I didn’t really look elsewhere.”

“Reliability is also a big issue for us,” he said, “because, if you lose a camera during a game and the scoreboard isn’t visible on the TV broadcast, there’s really nothing I can do. I don’t have a 150-foot ladder.”

The RCCP-2A STS control panel allows the venue’s multiple operators of the equipment to store favored camera setting and paint third-party PTZ cameras to match a specific production. This comes in handy, Frietchen says, when there is a quick turnaround between events.

“We store a lot of snap files, as I call them, that can be recalled quickly to keep the production running smoothly. And we store exact shot framing if we want tight stuff, and we want to get a little bit tighter. There are all kinds of things that we do. I mean, both users have their panel next to them, which makes things much faster and the operators more comfortable and productive.”

The equipment has occasionally been used when a broadcast camera goes down and is also the only cameras used for AHL Monsters hockey games.

“The thing that’s most attractive to us is that we can mount the camera almost any place in a building {although we only have it placed on the scoreboard at present] and not have to worry about it working properly. And I love the ease accessing the settings on the control panel, which allows me to replicate a manned game camera in a pinch.”

Frietchen also adds, “we’ve enjoyed a good working relationship over the years with Telemetrics as far as service and support, which is important when doing live sports production, and that’s why he keeps coming back for more.”

“Telemetrics’ staff has been very supportive after the sale,” he says. “The service and support guys always reach out and keep us informed about updates, upgrades and to see if there’s anything they can do.

“I always say switchers will switch; cameras will shoot. They all do the same thing at the end of the day. But what makes this business is people’s response time. Because we are in live events, we don’t have time to wait three days. I bet on people more than I do equipment. So, I tend to do business with people who I know are going to be there for me for the long haul. That’s Telemetrics.”