Since its launch in 2003, the NFL Network has based its West Coast broadcast headquarters in Culver City, CA. Now the media group has a new home, a sparkling new facility, right next to the sweeping SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
With three large studio spaces, a digital studio, podcast studio, a green screen studio and an expansive newsroom that looks out to the stadium, the NFL Los Angeles facility is an incredible elevation in look and functionality. Having collaborated with the NFL Network for over a decade, Jack Morton Worldwide designed all of the scenic environments on the campus.
The flagship stage is Studio 1, an immense volume with corner windows looking out to a slice of turf field and across Champions’ Way, the street bordering SoFi Stadium. In addition to these stellar views, Studio 1 also features 30’ ceilings, with a mezzanine level splitting the room in half vertically. Visitors can enter the space on a portion of this second level, passing behind a large sculptural football nicknamed “The Duke.” This iconic piece consists of a metal framework filled with faceted acrylic panels that come to life when washed with video by (8) overhanging projectors. A raised “Tech Deck” places talent in dramatic camera shots with “The Duke” as their background, turning the sculpture into a one-of-kind environmental display.
Also visible from this raised perch are other distinct studio features. A large rotating NFL shield is outlined in neon. This radiant piece is a souvenir from the 2019 Draft in Nashville, where the network built its own honky-tonk bar on Broadway, with this neon sign as its beacon.
Playing immediately next to the neon shield is a two-story mural by Los Angeles native, artist Tristan Eaton. This dynamic artwork transforms a large utility door and its support mechanism into a towering collage that celebrates the league, the players and the city in a vibrant sunrise palette. The lower half of the artwork features an abstracted sun that rises when the door is opened to the outside, revealing a sleek section of turf for analysts to break down plays or simply throw a deep pass.
Completely filling the room in all directions, the entire environment is truly immersive and designed to be shot in every direction. Large LED displays and tracking monitors are seamlessly integrated into the studio architecture, providing versatile canvases for presenting highlights and stats.
The studio’s storytelling potential is most powerfully demonstrated at The Bleachers, a raised section of platforming crowned with a soaring LED tower. Stand-up presentations, main anchor backgrounds and audience seating are all effortlessly produced here.
Numerous stand-up positions and seated desk positions are found in the studio. A long strip of portrait monitors form a horizontal touchscreen. A wedge-shaped sliver of LED creates the dynamic “Pie Desk,” seating up to (5) talent behind a concave, custom display surface. Studio 1 truly announces the network’s reinvigorated arrival to the new center.
Another large broadcast environment on the LA campus is the Newsroom, a cathedral-like space, defined by lines of concrete columns and a high ceiling. Windows on one side of the room reveal SoFi Stadium, while large LED screens and monitor arrays on the other walls make the Newsroom a vibrant hub of incoming information on vivid display. Angled glass panels, linear light boxes and a geometric, acoustic ceiling create a rich texture to this workspace. The structural concrete columns that run the length of the room are clad in bands of LED and light boxes, creating a glowing series of color echoing to the back of the room. The layered depth of this space is the perfect backdrop for the sleek anchor desk and platform that caps the length of the Newsroom.
Other production spaces include an playfully industrial Digital Studio, a Green Screen Studio, and a richly detailed Podcast Studio.
The new NFL Los Angeles facility is the embodiment of the NFL Network’s accomplishments. Building on the network’s extraordinary legacy, this state-of-the-art complex points to its bright future, like a beautifully designed play executed perfectly through planning, practice, determination and above all, teamwork.
Project Credits
NFL Network
- David Jurenka – SVP NFL Media & General Manager, Los Angeles
- Mark Quenzel – SVP Head of Content
- Dave Shaw – VP Head of Media Operations
- Jennifer Love – VP Coordinating Director NFL Network
- Rick Qualliotine – VP Emerging Production Platforms and Systems
Jack Morton Worldwide - Design
- Larry Hartman – Senior Design Director
- Jim Fenhagen and Andre Durette – Design Leadership
- Meredith Sonnen – Lead Project Manager
- Evan Hill – Designer/Project Manager
- Chris Maroney – Illustration Art Director
- Raeford Dwyer – Graphic Design Art Director
- Graham Caulfield, Derek Van Heel, Lauren Barber – Drafting
- Tristan Howard and Ruth Shorten – Production Support
Scenic Fabrication, Technical Design, and Installation by Showman Fabricators, Inc.
- Bob Usdin, President and Account Executive
- Chris Hayes, Senior Project Manager
- Amber Hennes, Associate Project Manager
- Drew Farrow, Lead Technical Designer
- Ashley Haughwout, Jon West, Colin Nickel, Technical Designers
- Mike Riccio Director of Technical Design
- Chris Meems, Director of Production
- Lucas Hickman, Chris Done, Dave Marcus, Chris Ciociano, Foremen
- Aris Paganakis, Lead Installer
- Tony Menditto, Jeff Murko, Scott Marshall, Install Technicians
- Elliot Bertoni, Super Grid Installers
- Serge Gountas Automation and Electrics Department Head
- Spencer Padilla, Automation and Electrics Department Lead
- Ryan Poethke, Automation and Electrics Department Detailer
- Chase Brooks, Automation and Electrics Shop Lead and Installation Tech
- Jennifer Orellana, Scenic Charge
- Sami Adamson, Scenic Second
- Cory Einbinder, Graphics Department Head
Lighting Design – The Lighting Design Group (LDG)
- Niel Galen – Senior Lighting Designer
- Mark London – Senior Systems Designer
- Tony Siniscalco – Systems Designer
- Michael Mustica – Gaffer
- Bob Going – Programmer
- Hannah Zucker – Project Manager
- Michael Kemp – Project Manager
AV Integration – Diversified
- Senior Director: Rick Walter
- Project Manager/Engineering: Dave Hewitt
- Integration: Ismael Chavez
- Integration: Joey Broadway
- Integration: Adam Kellet
- Integration: Travis Desmond
Projection System Design - Bravo Media
- Tim Donovan
- Ryan Kelley
- Cam Vokey
- Jason Batcheller
- Seth Kirby
Architecture - Interiors – Gensler
- Chris Mitchell – Design Director
- Melvin Guieb – Technical Director
- Bahar Afshar – Project Manager
- Jeremy Schacht – Project Architect
- Natalie Rios – Designer
- Lilian Woo – Technical
Architecture - Base Building - Gensler
- Wyatt Frantom – Design Director
- Utar Pollard – Project Manager
- Tom Williams – Project Architect
All images courtesy of Raeford Dwyer for Jack Morton Worldwide