ESPN Details 3D Football Plans

First three games feature top college teams

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/29/2010 12:04:27 PM

ESPN, which plans to broadcast 13 college football games in stereoscopic 3D on its new ESPN 3D network this fall, has named the first three games it will broadcast in 3D. The initial 3D telecasts feature three of the top five ranked teams in ESPN.com's early preseason Top 25 poll.

The 3D coverage, which is being sponsored by Sony, will begin on Monday, Sept. 6 at 8 p.m. ET with No. 2 Boise State facing No. 5 Virginia Tech at FedEx Field, home of the Washington Redskins. Next up, on Sept. 11 at 3:40 PM ET, is defending Big Ten Conference champion No. 3 Ohio State versus host No. 19 Miami of the ACC. The third 3D game of the season features Clemson of the ACC versus host Auburn of the SEC on Sept. 18, with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

ESPN 3D's college football coverage will conclude with the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game on Monday, Jan. 10 at 8:30 p.m.

ESPN has been experimenting with several new camera systems for college football to get dynamic 3D shots without conflicting with traditional 2D camera positions or creating too many expensive "seat kills" in stadiums, says VP of Event Operations Chris Calcinari. One innovation is MastCam, a robotic 3D camera rig mounted on a 20 to 25-foot high pole that will be placed on a cart and moved up and down the sideline.

"It's really difficult to utilize traditional camera positions for high-quality 3D," says Calcinari.