FORT WORTH-When ESPN begins its broadcast coverage for the NCAA Men's Final Four in April, 2014, it will be doing so in practically a brand-new venue. This is because the one-acre site for the mobile broadcasting location will be Sundance Square Plaza, a development bordered by three new office buildings, that is slated to open this November.
According to Sundance Square president and CEO Johnny Campbell, this type of usage was envisioned when deciding on designs for the Plaza; in fact, it was envisioned as far back as 2011, when ESPN was on site to broadcast during the week leading up to Superbowl XLV. At the time, the sports network broadcast from two asphalt parking lots in Sundance Square.
But come April, the sports network will broadcast from a more interesting site. Sundance Square Plaza at 420 Main Street provides outdoor patios, fountains, benches, a 2,000-square-foot pavilion and four massive and distinctive umbrellas. Just as importantly, "ESPN advised us on issues such as fiber optics, data connections and potential camera locations throughout the Plaza development process," Campbell tells GlobeSt.com.
He goes on to say that from the start, the Plaza was designed to be a very flexible, convertible and programmable event space, a gathering place or, as Campbell calls it, "a front room for the city." "Even if we're not out there with large or small programming, it'll be a great place to sit," Campbell says. "The Plaza is lined with restaurants, wifi and everything else to make it a great space."
The question is whether that great space will lead to a traffic nightmare in April. The games themselves will be taking place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. But as ESPN's broadcast center, Sundance Square Plaza will attract its fair share of crowds. Furthermore, the three office buildings ringing the square will be open – and all three are close to being 100% leaaed.
Still, Campbell says downtown Fort Worth and Sundance Square aren't strangers to crowds – events such as the annual Main Street Arts Festival attract a lot of people. "One of the things we learned during the Super Bowl was that the live TV broadcasts run all day," Campbell explains. "That will take the peak out of traffic; what we're anticipating is steady in-and-out traffic, rather than a lot of people in place for a two-hour period." Furthermore, traffic plans are in place to ensure that the event doesn't infringe on the routine of daily office workers.
Still, the lessons learned from that Super Bowl have have had a definite influence on the Plaza's ultimate design. "One important lesson we learned about the Plaza design is that there's no way to really predict what a special-event user will need," Campbell says. "We worked hard to make this a convertible, programmable space with a lot of flat areas that can adapt to a lot of events."
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