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Sports Broadcasting Technology

PRG Built the Largest Temporary Structure to Be Erected in Times Square for FOX Sports

February 03, 2014

(SPORTS TECHNOLOGY)

Well this year’s Super Bowl may have come and gone without any hitches — like last year’s power outage — but that doesn’t mean it was devoid of noteworthy events. For example, FOX Sports’ Super Bowl Broadcast Center on Super Bowl Boulevard, built by Production Resource Group, was something of a landmark achievement.


That’s because the three-story structure was certified by the Times Square Alliance as the largest non-permanent structure to ever be erected in Times Square. Despite its inherently temporary nature, the 65-foot tall, 40-foot by 40-foot building was a completely climate controlled, fully functional broadcast facility. This allowed it to serve as the New York City broadcast base for FOX Sports’ Super Bowl coverage.

Overall, the facility boasted 8,100 square feet of usable space, along with a high definition broadcast studio with north and south-facing 10 by 20-foot windows. It even featured a miniature football field on the roof with stadium-style lighting and Astroturf.

No matter how impressive the Super Bowl Broadcast Center was itself, however, its construction was even more so. This is because PRG began work on the tower as of 12:01 a.m. on Friday, January 17, giving its crew very little time to complete the structure. As such, the PRG crew worked in shifts with 15 site supervisors and five project managers on site to oversee the main work crew of 60.

In spite of the snowstorm that blanketed New York City with roughly a foot of snow, the PRG team managed to complete construction of the tower in seven days — two days ahead of schedule. This left FOX Sports plenty of time to setup the tower with its broadcast equipment.

Fortunately, PRG planned ahead for the job with a test build in the company’s New Windsor, NY, facility. The company also anticipated extreme weather conditions, leading it to develop innovative construction methods, such as an inter-lockable structure that eliminated the needs for many smaller tools.

On top of all that, PRG even managed to keep the tower as green as possible by way of four five-ton heat pumps with electric back up.




Edited by Cassandra Tucker