Game Creek Flagship, Discovery roll in; Artie Kempner takes the director's chair as ESPN’s primetime franchise evolves again
When ESPN’s Monday Night Football kicks off in Chicago tonight with an NFC North clash between the Vikings and Bears, the production will feature two of the most significant changes the franchise has seen behind the scenes in recent memory: a brand-new game truck and a new game director.
An ESPN camera operator captures a touchdown celebration during a game last season. (Photo: Allen Kee/ESPN Images)
Game Creek Video’s Flagship, a fully IP-based mobile unit, will serve as the production home for the game broadcast, while longtime Fox NFL director Artie Kempner joins producer Steve Ackels at the front bench. Together, they represent both technological and creative shifts for ESPN’s marquee NFL package.
Rolling Out the Flagship
Game Creek Video Flagship is ESPN’s first full SMPTE ST 2110 truck, reflecting the industry’s broader migration to IP. Outfitted with Sony HDC-5500 cameras and the latest in routing and replay technology, the truck is designed to simplify complex connections, scale easily for major events, and improve efficiency week to week.
Game Creek Video deploys Riedel technology in its newest OB trucks.
“It’s the culmination of where the industry’s going,” says Tommy Mitchell, Senior Manager, Remote Operations, ESPN. “You get to build [a truck] from scratch with all the newest cameras and top-of-the-line systems. It opens up a lot of things for us—trucks being able to talk to each other faster, more efficiently, being able to move things without as much physical cabling. It creates a certain level of flexibility.”
The new build also better supports ESPN’s increasingly common doubleheader Mondays, when two games air simultaneously. With more flexible routing, operators can reassign feeds and reprogram resources with less physical reconfiguration.
“It’s different when you build a new truck versus refreshing an older one,” Mitchell says. “You’re not limited by legacy infrastructure. You’re starting from scratch with everything aligned to the latest workflows.”
Pylon cams (bottom right) return to the Monday Night Football camera arsenal in 2025. (Photo: Brooke Sutton/ESPN Images)
On the studio side, ESPN will lean on Game Creek’s Discovery, which houses Monday Night Countdown and NFL Live. The separation between the studio and game units allows each team to operate independently.
“Countdown can do everything they need to do and not feel like they’re disrupting any part of the game,” Mitchell explains.
A New Hand on the Wheel
The debut of Flagship coincides with Kempner’s arrival as game director. A veteran of more than three decades at Fox, Kempner brings a fresh voice to ESPN’s presentation of the NFL.
“He is the first director of his stature that I’ve worked with who didn’t grow up at ESPN,” Mitchell notes. “To hear the perspective of someone who says, ‘We all accomplish the same things, but we do it slightly differently,’ has given us a new way of looking at things. Honestly, I think it’s going to make us a lot better.”
Kempner’s early fingerprints include upgrades to SkyCam (a Sony HDC-P50A), changes to RF coverage (moving both RF handheld and Steadicam to Ronin rigs), and a switch from C360 to Fletcher Nucleus for goal-line and line-to-gain replay angles.
They’re subtle tweaks, but they reflect a director unafraid to ask why ESPN has “always done it this way.” “Even something as simple as how he sets up his game-day schedule—he wanted to change it,” Mitchell says. “We looked at each other and said, ‘Why not?’ It’s been refreshing to rethink things.”
Doubleheaders Test Crew Depth
The on-air team of Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, and Laura Rutledge may be the faces of the broadcast, but hundreds of ESPN staffers will execute each Monday night.
On the game side, Mitchell leads a deep bench of operations talent, including Remote Operations Producer BJ Smith; Sr. Remote Operations Producer Chris Swihart; Director, Specialist Operations Eddie Okuno; Sr. Remote Operations Specialist Jim Munn; Sr. Remote Operations Coordinators Samantha Majewski and Kylene Hamulak; and Operations Coordinator Kate Landers.
The doubleheader crew is led by producer/director tandem Jeff Dufine and Derek Mobley, supported by operations veterans Jack Coffey (who is taking a step out of retirement to help on busy weeks), Andrew Pennington, Brian Ristine, Kylene Hamulak, and Meredith Fenwick.
Monday Night Football’s schedule now routinely features doubleheaders, particularly in September. That means two simultaneous A-level broadcasts, a logistical challenge for operations teams.
“These are two versions of Monday Night Football,” Mitchell stresses. “The same level of oversight and care applies to both. It does create challenges, especially when launching a new truck, but our operations teams are up to it.”
The first doubleheader falls in Las Vegas, where the second crew will be met by Allegiant Stadium, a venue with ample infrastructure.
“It’s a great place to do TV,” Mitchell says, calling it an ideal site for the “training wheels” week.
Studio Shows Expand Their Footprint
ESPN’s studio presence around Monday Night Football is growing. Monday Night Countdown will originate from site most weeks. New this year, NFL Live will also travel on Mondays, expanding to a two-hour window (3-5 p.m. ET).
Monday Night Countdown will orginiate from site in all of the weeks where there isn’t a doubleheader of games. (Photo: Brooke Sutton/ESPN Images)
Coming off a Sports Emmy win for “Outstanding Studio Show – Daily,” NFL Live provides ESPN with an all-day build into primetime.
“We’re not a cookie-cutter show,” says Mark Mignini, Senior Manager, Remote Operations for ESPN. “It’s not just talking heads on the sideline. We do field segments, tailgating scenes, live hits from the concourse. The crew comes back every year because they like that it’s not normal—it’s not the same show every week.”
On the studio side, Mignini oversees Monday Night Countdown, supported by Sr. Remote Operations Producer Johnathan Williams,Remote Operations Producer Gordon Reed; Sr. Remote Operations Specialist Joe Rainey, and Sr. Remote Operations Coordinator Leah Morgenstern, .
ManningCast Rolls On
For the fifth consecutive season, Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli returns on ESPN2. The Emmy-winning alternate telecast will feature 12 episodes this year, beginning in Week 1, and will surpass 50 total episodes since its 2021 debut.
Produced with Omaha Productions, the “ManningCast” continues to blend analysis, humor, and celebrity guests, with Peyton Manning’s interactive whiteboard returning as a fan-favorite tool. All episodes stream on the ESPN app and NFL+.
Every Monday Night Football game and studio show streams on the ESPN app as part of the network’s direct-to-consumer push. Features like multiview, live stats, and interactive overlays extend the linear experience, while ESPN2’s ManningCast and Spanish-language coverage on ESPN Deportes give viewers multiple ways to engage.
Looking Ahead: The Super Bowl Looms
Though the focus is squarely on the 2025 season, ESPN’s operations leaders admit that every decision is made with the company’s “north star” in mind: Super Bowl LXI in 2027.
“We live in two worlds,” Mitchell says. “We’ve got Week 1 in Chicago with 30 million people watching, but we’re also laser focused on the Super Bowl. We want to break the narrative of ‘this is how every other network does it.’ We’re going to push as much as we can in all aspects, because that’s what we do.”
Mignini adds that the studio side is already scouting Los Angeles venues for round-the-clock coverage. “We’re looking at multiple locations around L.A.,” he says. “If you’re a football fan and your team is in it, we’ll be covering every angle.”