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Since being named VP of sports engineering and production systems for Sinclair Broadcast Group in January 2020, Don Roberts has tackled the challenge of producing coverage for Sinclair’s regional sports networks (RSNs) and Tennis Channel through the COVID-19 pandemic while also contending with several long-term initiatives stemming from Sinclair’s 2019 acquisition of the RSNs from Disney for $9.6 billion.
Last week, one of those big projects came to fruition with the rebranding of 19 RSNs from their previous Fox Sports monikers to Bally Sports networks, just in time for the start of the Major League Baseball Season (Sinclair also has a stake in YES Network and co-owns Marquee Network with the Chicago Cubs). Tennis Channel is also looking ahead to its coverage of the French Open (Roland-Garros), which returns to its usual spot in the Grand Slam calendar in 2021 along with Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. TVNewsCheck Contributing Editor Glen Dickson checked in with Roberts to learn more.
An edited transcript.
Sinclair reached an $88 million naming rights deal in January with Bally’s Corp. for the RSNs. Did that mean any big technical or production changes?
Yes, it’s a huge change if you think about graphics alone. Because everything that had Fox Sports associated with it had to change, from graphics to offices to sets and desks. It is a major undertaking, and we have a group of people that have been working on this for over a