FOX Sports Debuts Next-Gen Graphics, Celebrates Career of Lead Producer Pete Macheska as 2025 World Series Gets Underway in Toronto
Cross-border logistics, AR visuals highlight an ambitious Fall Classic
When the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays take the field tonight at Rogers Centre for Game 1 of the 2025 World Series, FOX Sports will mark both a technological leap forward and the close of a remarkable broadcasting chapter.
This Fall Classic will showcase a cutting-edge suite of production enhancements — including expanded augmented-reality graphics, next-gen UmpCam and Swing Tracker visuals, and a robust new aerial-drone presence — while serving as the final World Series for Pete Macheska, longtime lead game producer for MLB on FOX.
The World Series opens tonight at Rogers Centre in Toronto. (Photo: MLB)
Macheska, who has been “the man in the chair” for 22 World Series, will call his final baseball game before transitioning full-time to FOX’s NFL coverage. It’s an emotional send-off for a producer whose vision has shaped the way millions watch postseason baseball.
Farewell to a Legend in the Truck
Over more than two decades, Macheska has helped define how baseball looks and feels on television. His fingerprints are on the sport’s most indelible moments: the Red Sox breaking the “Curse of the Bambino” in 2004, the Cubs ending a 108-year drought in 2016, the cinematic walk-off finish to the inaugural Field of Dreams Game. Inside FOX Sports’ NEP ND1 production unit this week, colleagues are celebrating his career while ensuring that his final ride looks every bit as spectacular as the ones that came before.
“An incredible end of a long, amazing, historic, and occasionally challenging era for baseball, FOX, and TV in general,” says Mike Davies, SVP, technical and field operations, FOX Sports. “I’ve been lucky to work with Pete for 19 postseasons, and I have the fond memories — along with the mental scars — to prove it.”
Davies credits the enduring partnership between Macheska and director Matt Gangl with giving MLB on FOX its distinctive cinematic sheen: “The thing about watching baseball on FOX is that it looks different; it looks like a movie. We bring fans an entirely different level of production that hits the sport in its most special moments.”
Crossing the Border — and Raising the Bar
This year’s event marks FOX Sports’ first World Series north of the border, but the logistical hurdles have been minimal, Davies says. “While we haven’t done a World Series in Toronto, we were here for the LCS in 2016. The cross-border thing hasn’t presented too much of a hassle — especially for NEP ND1 and their support units, which have been here since the Division Series.”
The production team has high praise for its Canadian partners. “The Rogers Centre is an excellent place to do TV,” Davies notes. “The folks here, along with Dome Productions — who help with most everything — are top-notch, Canadian-friendly, and thrilled to be a part of it.”
Cameras, Audio, and Replay Firepower
For the 2025 World Series, FOX Sports is deploying one of its most robust technical setups yet. The arsenal comprises 20 operated cameras — 10 of them high-speed — augmented by multiple RF and MōVI rigs, six robotic cameras, three POVs, two Phantoms, a FlyCam, DirtCam, UmpCam, and a drone operated by Beverly Hills Aerials.
FOX Sports has enhanced UmpCam with real-time augmented-reality graphics. (Image: FOX Sports)
Audio coverage is equally sophisticated, with 52 MLB-effects microphones, three parabolic mics, and sensors embedded in the bases capturing every pop of the glove and crack of the bat. Replay is powered by 142 record channels and 32 playouts, and graphics are driven by dual VizRT engines and the signature FOX Box. Two onsite editors will handle highlight packages at speed for both on-air and digital use.
MORE: FOX Sports MLB Postseason Audio Aims To Make Officials’ Calls More Accurate
AR, Swing Tracker, and the Next-Gen View
Augmented reality again takes center stage in FOX’s baseball presentation. The broadcaster’s new UmpCam and Swing Tracker systems use real-time positional data to visualize strike-zone precision and swing dynamics, deepening fans’ understanding of the game.
Among the augmented-reality graphics systems that FOX Sports has deployed this MLB Postseason is Swing Tracker AR. (Image: FOX Sports)
Complementing those elements are the sweeping cinematic aerials that have become FOX’s October calling card. Beverly Hills Aerials returns with its drone fleet to deliver high-impact shots of Toronto’s skyline and Rogers Centre’s retractable-roof drama.
“These tools allow us to blend storytelling and spectacle,” Davies explains. “It’s about making sure the production feels big but also is grounded in the authenticity of the game.”
A Deep and Experienced Crew
Behind Macheska and Gangl is a seasoned team of industry veterans. Tom Lynch serves as lead technical producer, with VP, Field Operations and Engineering, Brad Cheney and Director, Field Operations, Francisco Contreras overseeing the onsite infrastructure and day-to-day logistics. A1 Joe Carpenter leads the show on the sound front while Paul Harvath sits in the technical director’s chair.
The full operational ecosystem is supported by Judy Lawless, Nicole Perrin, Pam Chvotkin, Jennifer Freund, Itzel Rocha, Nick Utley, Sam D’Amico, Erik Guyton, Anil Letherwala, Patricia Fischer and Tanner Acone; while Technical Producers Sid Drexler, Taihe Miller, Brady Polansky and Lou D’Ermilio manage the complex systems that tie it all together.
Together, they embody what Davies calls “a cadre of crew, vendors, and managers that come together as a team each and every year. And each year, we pick up where we left off.”
Honoring a Career, Delivering a Spectacle
As the Dodgers chase back-to-back titles and the Blue Jays look to bring the Commissioner’s Trophy to Canada for the first time since 1993, fans will see a broadcast engineered with the same ambition and artistry that has defined MLB on FOX since its debut in 1996.
MLB on FOX lead producer Pete Macheska is producing his 22nd and final World Series.
For Macheska, this week is both a professional finale and a personal celebration. His tenure coincides with some of the most transformative decades in live television — from the shift to HD, 4K, and HDR to the industry’s migration to IP-based infrastructures. Through it all, his reputation for intensity, precision, and mentorship has defined the MLB on FOX brand.
“Pete leaves behind a lasting impact on how FOX Sports covers baseball — and on the crew he has worked alongside and mentored,” Davies says. “It’s a phenomenal feeling to be a part of all this, no matter what the matchup is, and anyone who has participated in a FOX Postseason knows exactly what I’m talking about.”
