XFL Chooses JBL VerTec

XFL SELECTS JBL PRO VERTEC™ SPEAKERS

In an effort to kick football up a notch, XFL with support from NBC has brought a new brand of in your face football to eight cities around the US. To make the spectator experience as exciting as possible, rental system provider MSI (Baltimore, MD) has employed their new VERTEC™ speakers from JBL at six of the stadiums being used by the XFL.

VERTEC's ability to offer louder, clearer sound with less weight, while being able to withstand the elements in cities like Chicago were determining factors in MSI choosing VERTEC. At each stadium, an array of up to ten VERTEC cabinets are flown using MSI's proprietary speaker tower at each corner of the endzone. These four arrays provide loud clear audio for announcements, live sound from the field during the game, audio-for-video playback support and concert-level music tracks to support the already-infamous cheerleaders' routines.

"This is a whole new concept in sports audio," stated the XFL's Broadcast Audio Consultant Jeff Cohen (Orlando, FL). "JBL's new VERTEC line-source arrays are the only thing powerful and lightweight enough to implement these innovative sound reinforcement designs. This is a fast-paced, rockin' entertainment series that has to be right both on the air and for the live crowds. We've specified only blue-chip brands like JBL and Crown and we're relying on Sennheiser wireless systems from Scharff-Weissberg in New York to mic the referees and players, with RF transmitters tucked into the shoulder pads of nearly every man on the field."

Cohen notes that coordinating the NBC truck and tour-savvy live soundmixers is big fun. "We've got some great people on this audio crew - veterans like George Strakis, Dave Lohr and Greg 'Chico' Lopez are working like a SWAT team for us out here."

With array coverage vectors exceeding 150 meters ( 500 feet) in some venues, and RF body-pack mics on the players at scrimmage, it's a bold experiment in sound reinforcement that TV critics and other sceptics had to concede was "incredible" after the premier games. The first games of the brand-new XFL season were held Feb. 3rd and 4th and will continue through early April at various sites around the USA including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Orlando, San Francisco and New Jersey's Giants Stadium.