Phoenix Coyotes- the team's open video excites NHL fans (Video)

Captain Shane Doan's moving headshot

Every professional sports team in America has what is called an open video. This video presents the home team to the crowd at the start of each game. Each sport does it differently as well as each team. Some use moving headshots of the players as they enter the arena or stadium. Some use fully produced videos with montages of key players and specific key offensive or defensive moments.  The example of the open video for this article is from the NHL team, the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Phoenix Coyotes employ a full-time staff to produce and edit videos for the Jumbotron, which is the main video board on the center console hanging above the action. You will find this board in most every sport: hockey and basketball make use of a hanging board while baseball and football have their Jumbotrons mounted on a wall in the stadium (the exception being the Dallas Cowboys who have a very large HD display above the field).

The open will also have ancillary video and graphic support, predominantly motion graphics that are used to enhance the leitmotif that is used in the open. However, these boards are very large in dimension and cannot be shown here as an example. Typical HD dimensions are 1920x1280. One board used for a Coyotes game is 8480x24 and encompasses the arena in 360 degress. This becomes quite a different beast altogether and very much amplifies the intensity of the Coyotes hitting the ice before the start of the game.

The open has several purposes. It clearly defines the start of the game. It must get the crowd pumped for the homecoming team. It must take into consideration that members of the audience have never seen a game of the sport and not familiar with the players. In the case of the Coyotes open, it showcases the captain, Shane Doan, a long-standing player with the organization and assistant captains, Zybnek Michalek and Ed Jovanovski and defines the position in which these players serve. It also highlights players who have contributed key plays within the last several games. As hockey teams play 82 games a season, the video is constantly updated and fresh, so that it can bring up to date those who might have missed a game, either home or away.

For this full open of all the boards in the center hung and 360, production will typically take 2-3 weeks, not inclusive of the pre-production. Timing will then be worked out with the lighting grids and smoke machines, which will take several hours so that presentation of the team to the crowd is spot on.

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