Scripps Sports takes center stage with WNBA coverage on Ion

Scripts jumped into the sports broadcasting arena in 2023 with the launch of Scripps Sports.

The brand officially debuted with the WNBA season on Ion, which is part of a multi-year rights deal between the league and Scripps, but that’s just the beginning. Scripps Sports is already expanding this fall to include NHL coverage of the Vegas Golden Knights and the Big Sky Conference.

To cover the WNBA, Scripps needed to develop not only an overarching brand for its sports production, but also a graphics package flexible enough for future expansion.

“The challenge of launching sports on a new network (besides not having a long time frame) was that while we were looking for a creative that had to be robust and best in class, that package also had to be sufficiently flexible and consistent to pair well with our Ion brand – anchored by a collection of the most-watched television series, without a significant sports presence,” said Larry Morris, head of creative studio at Scripps Networks. “We were extremely fortunate that our flagship sports franchise on Ion is a partnership with the WNBA.”

Ion and the WNBA use orange as the dominant brand color – fortunate given how quickly the overall design had to be created for the air.

The WNBA plays using distinctive white and orange balls, so the Scripps team, in conjunction with Two fresh creations And Game Day Creativeused it as a starting point for the design.

Scripps Sports was created in late 2022 to bring sports coverage to Ion Television, which EW Scripps owns through its Katz Broadcasting subsidiary.

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“We knew early on that we wanted our Scripps Sports brand to have the elements of light that are core to our corporate DNA and our heritage within the EW Scripps Company. This was important for both the overall aesthetic of the logo animation and the live streaming environment we would need to create for one of our professional sports franchise partners,” said Garrett Cook , vice president of creative design at Scripps Networks.

Having debuted with its first “Friday Night Spotlight,” a WNBA doubleheader, Scripps Sports’ broadcast design is centered on the concept of “stage.”

“It became clear when we saw Gameday Creative’s first pitch that the best container for this concept was a ‘stage’ where we could showcase the light emerging from our CG logo as well as glowing dynamic structures and objects in the background. neon that could be customized based on the sport,” Cook noted.

The scene element shows light emerging from the Scripps Sports logo alongside dynamic neon glowing structures and objects.

When developing the packaging, Two Fresh Creative noticed a synergy between the Ion and WNBA brands, driven by the color orange, and pitched an idea combining white leather and smooth extruded logos with neon orange trim.

Scripps knew as soon as it saw the pitch that this would provide a solid core for a toolkit that could be used for promotional graphics, transitions and live on-air elements.

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Gameday Creative, meanwhile, delivered the “WNBA Friday Night Spotlight” opening and branding, the Scripps Sports capper, the show’s title card and two transitions.

All visuals were accompanied by original music created by Scripps Audio Director Patrick Magee and inspired by the anthems played during many sports broadcasts.

Gameday centered its work around the theme “suo jure,” a Latin term meaning “in one’s own right,” explained Scott Flato, executive producer of Gameday.

“This graphic concept visualizes the journey to the top,” he said.

“WNBA players have fought physically, mentally and socially to reach the pinnacle of their profession. It doesn’t get bigger and better than the WNBA; it’s the culmination of years of hard work and determination. We wanted a graphic style that told that story, that captured the hard journey and rewarded the teams and players who achieved greatness that few people can experience in life.

Alongside the animations, Gameday also explored different logo options and designed the final logo. A 3D model of the final look was also built by the Gameday team and used in the various elements.

“The Scripps team wanted to present the WNBA in a very prestigious way – feeling like a hero, feeling big, not second to other sports,” Flato added. “It’s their prime time event and we had to capture that. The benefit for us is that we can do what we do best: bring sporting energy and enthusiasm to a new, premium event.

As for the future of other planned or upcoming sports broadcast partnerships for Ion and Scripps Sports, the trio of teams were also aware that the package would change as it covered other sports, which is why designs were been created with the ability to replace basketball shapes. and textures.

All elements had to work seamlessly with designs created by Two Fresh and internally at Scripps – as well as the existing WNBA broadcast look.

Due to time constraints, the show’s graphics were created by modifying and expanding the WNBA’s existing design. This involved taking Two Fresh’s project files and smoothing the texture of the leather to match the existing look. In many cases, the original Cinema 4D models were used to iterate on these additional looks.

Scripps added dozens of new transitions, bumps, openings, billboards, bugs and snipes to the hundreds of elements already available that could not be redesigned in time for the May 2023 launch.

“The benefit of being a new kid in town in sports was that sports fans and our audience expected us to probably play it safe and show up with something typical of most of RSNs, which is often practical, functional and expected. We shot for the moon and believe we have delivered top-notch, unexpected and lasting creative for any sports presence on our networks for years to come,” Morris said.

As a newcomer to the crowded world of sports broadcasting, Scripps Sports needed to “come out of the gate strong and establish credibility,” Flato said.

“As an agency partner, it is our obligation to bring their vision to life, with a new and fresh style, that shakes hands with the network’s identity and proudly accomplishes its goals as a company,” said added Flato.

Although Scripps is a new network, the people who work behind the scenes have years of experience in sports broadcasting.

“Throughout the project, they were passionate and collaborative. Their direction and vision were communicated to us clearly and concisely. We couldn’t have asked for better partners to collaborate with,” noted Flato.