The Famous Group, working its 20th consecutive Super Bowl as a fan engagement partner of the NFL, produced an original mixed reality segment that was shown on in-venue displays at Caesars Superdome minutes before kickoff on Sunday.
Captured using two of the company’s newly developed operator-less 8K cameras, the spot introduced the Big Game by rendering a portal opening in the center of the Superdome ceiling and an animated “Super Bowl LIX” pedestal descending from it, with Chiefs and Eagles banners and Mardi Gras-themed beads billowing on the sides.
“We did a scout early January, which allowed us to take a look at some of the architecture of the Superdome,” Famous Group Partner Andrew Isaacson told SBJ. “They’ve got an incredible ceiling there. When [Famous Group Creative Director] Hemu [Karadkar] and our creative department looked at that, he said, ‘Man, wouldn’t it be great if the ceiling could open up somehow?‘”
Fans at the Superdome were treated to an insane mixed-reality stunt before kickoff tonight.
— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) February 10, 2025
The segment — which featured Mardi Gras beads unfurling from the roof — was produced by @famousgroupLA.@rob_schaef with the scoop on the tech powering it: https://t.co/6TFPW9N7Yy pic.twitter.com/1ZoGYLrIht
Unique to this activation compared to others Famous Group has executed -- like, say, the mixed reality Carolina Panther it produced for the NFL’s Germany game in 2024 -- is that the cameras needed to look up to the ceiling from a low angle, as opposed to down to the field.
“We’re exploring slightly different camera angles than we normally play with,” said Famous Group VP/Production Technology Erik Beaumont. “The other thing that’s interesting is that [low angle] frees up the field for Super Bowl pageantry. If there’s some sort of ceremony, we’re not blocking the field with our graphics. The Super Bowl’s run-of-show has to be a lot less concerned of what’s going on elsewhere.”
Famous Group’s new cameras, which they began deploying last year for activations like the panther graphic and a field transformation for the opening ceremony of the Bundesliga soccer season, are smaller and more flexible to install than the company’s prior ones, don’t require a camera operator, and produce higher quality animations.
Beaumont said the new system has cut setup times at least in half and reduced their production staff’s overall footprint in-venue; at Super Bowl LIX, for example, the two cameras used were affixed to railings.
“We’re not burdening the broadcaster, the stadium infrastructure, all of that, with huge technical lifts,” Beaumont said. “Super Bowl, there’s a million-and-a-half cameras there. Camera plots are premium real estate.
“For us to say, ‘Hey, can you give us two [plots] so we can do a 30-second mixed reality open?’ That’s a hard ask. If we can come in and say, ‘We can put these cameras in, and we’re not going to interfere with anyone else’s camera spaces.' That’s a much easier lift for everyone.”
Twenty-two of the NFL’s 32 teams also use Famous Group’s Vixi Suite of in-venue fan engagement tools, which is being deployed at the Super Bowl this year as well. Over the years, Famous Group has developed several solutions for the league including a platform that aggregates game statistics for press box monitors and technology that allowed remote fans to beam into Roger Goodell’s basement during the 2020 NFL Draft.
“The [NFL] and The Famous Group have been really good partners over the years, because we continue to innovate with each other,” Isaacson said. “And then, for our 20th [Super Bowl], the ceiling’s going to open up.”
