I found this and thought it was worth sharing, probably won't do any good but we can all dream right?
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Put-Disc-Golf-on-ESPN/129685487103940
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Put-Disc-Golf-on-ESPN/129685487103940
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probably won't do any good
I think Feldberg said it best when he said that DG wont be on ESPN until they start filming it better.
When they can get better shots of the flight of the disc, and the lines involved when you throw, it will make it more interesting to watch.
Two slight problems with this, which when put into practice aren't so slight.Good point, but if they can do it for ball golf, they can do it for Disc Golf.
Another problem that I think needs to be addressed is having good commentators. People who not only know the game well, but know how to explain it to people who've never seen disc golf before.
I personally find most televised ball golf downright boring, and I'd suspect most people who take interest in watching it do so because they play the game themselves and understand the subtle nuances that people who don't play it do not.
Two slight problems with this, which when put into practice aren't so slight.
1. Disc golf courses are a lot more compact than ball golf courses. Have you ever seen the cable that a network lays down to be able broadcast a PGA event? Its
astounding. Sure you wouldn't need as much, but it, not to mention all the cameras you would need would likely interfere with play.
2. Some of the most challenging disc golf holes deal with things that ball golfers never have to deal with, densely wooded trees. This provides a very unique complication in how you go about getting a good camera angle. Its also one reason why the finals course at PDGA Worlds, (where a majority of the PDGA video is from) is usually held on a somewhat open layout.
Another problem that I think needs to be addressed is having good commentators. People who not only know the game well, but know how to explain it to people who've never seen disc golf before.
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Losing feed isn't what I'm concerned about. The very existence of having any sort of broadcast equipment around, not to mention the people manning it, is going to present a complication in interfering with play. Generally on a ball golf course, particularly a championship caliber one, there is plenty of slack room to deal with this sort of thing.With the intro of fiber optics it has made running bigger events like golf and NASCAR easier. The cable is lighter and can run for miles with out losing any of the feed.
And how do your camera people get from hole to hole without interfering with the players? Many of our courses are not equipped to handle this.The thing you would have to do is run a lot of cable but you wouldn't need a lot of cameras, maybe 10. They would just have to plug and un-plug from hole to hole which is fine because you can cut to another camera that is still connected or go to the commentators for a shot. The production of this is the easy part.
Even that is going to be cost prohibitive IMO. The thing is the future of broadcast sports is going to be a radical departure from what we know today, particularly for small alternative sports like ours. The future is likely not to involve television at all. Its going to involve the very thing you're reading this forum from, whether that be your computer or your smartphone. Granted, the shoddy attempts the PDGA has made so far with webcasting has been rather unimpressive, but with time that technology is likely to improve.If we can get a small time production company like Raycom (NC area) to get involved to do the USDGC would be the best bet at this time. It will be hard to get ESPN or FOX to put it on the main channels but if you get like CSS, Raycom, FS SOUTH, or some kind of regionalized channel it will work better.
We know who Ken Climo is, but who knows that name outside of our circle. The flip side of that coin is that 10-15 years ago nobody knew who Tony Hawk or Shaun White was. That's definitely not the case today! It will happen, it just has to grow into it. We are definitely on the right track, and are more recognized today. Perhaps DG will eventually become an X-games sport.
Just my thoughts on the topic.
Sorry, that was a combined thought about wireless! You know what, I got that HD info from someones post on an answers webpage. I should have read that a little better. I just wanted to illustrate that cameras can go anywhere.