BROADCAST SPOTLIGHT: TOUR DE FRANCE

SMT marks 16 years at Tour de France

Thanks to Video Editor Shaun Bales for the highlight reel. 

SMT is once again supporting NBC’s coverage of the Tour de France, marking our 16th consecutive year at cycling’s most prestigious event. The 112th edition of the race features 23 teams and 184 riders covering a grueling 2,074-mile course over 21 stages. With Tadej Pogacar closing in on his fourth overall title, SMT’s real-time data integration and graphics are helping fans follow every climb, sprint, and shake-up in the General Classification.

What started as a basic ISO Track production has evolved into a fully interfaced system that merges multiple live data streams. Carter Allison, our on-site technician in France, collaborates with remote staff in Stamford, CT, to deliver dynamic graphics and up-to-the-second race information. These include group standings, speed visualizations and updated classification results that enhance the storytelling of each stage. (Look for Carter's report in an upcoming issue). 

Among SMT’s graphic tools are ISO Track pointer graphics for rider identification, the “Hat” graphic that highlights group formations and terrain, and a live ticker displaying standings, stage winners, and American rider updates. By combining rich data with compelling visuals, SMT continues to play a key role in bringing the complexity and excitement of the Tour de France to viewers across the U.S. on NBC and Peacock.

IN THE NEWS: SPORTS VIDEO GROUP

How NBC Sports Tells the Story of ‘Logistically Complex’ Tour de France

By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor
Wednesday, July 23, 2025

The Tour de France, which finishes Sunday with the final stage on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, is “one of the most logistically complex sporting events in the world,” says NBC Sports Coordinating Producer Joel Felicio. Produced by Felicio and his team, NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2025 cycling competition uses high-speed internet transmission, a hybrid production model, and visual graphics to inform both die-hard fans and casual viewers.

“The Tour is unlike any other sporting event — and the production reflects that,” he says. “The entire TV compound moves to a new location every single day, often two, three or even five hours apart from the previous stage. That means everything has to be set up, broken down, packed up, and transported, all within a tight overnight window. Unlike traditional sports, where you might get one or two setup days in a fixed venue, the Tour gives you no margin for error.

Emphasis on On-Screen Data, Visually Compelling Graphics
The production team aims to provide the on-screen data and graphics to inform the audience without taking up too much real estate to do so.

“We know the Tour de France is one of the most visually stunning sporting events in the world,” Felicio says, “and we never want our graphics to get in the way of that experience. Every graphic we use is designed with that balance in mind.”

The top of the broadcast screen — which NBC refers to as “the hat” — highlights essential data: stage information, time gaps, race status. The bottom of the screen is designed for a scrolling ticker providing race updates. Rider information and accompanying graphics are triggered contextually when a particular participant appears on screen. The lower third is typically used for course profiles, rider statistics, and group time gaps — without obstructing the view of the race. All live-data graphics are handled by SMT.

EVENT SPOTLIGHT: WIMBLEDON: BEHIND THE SCENES

Joanne Louder, Chris Hayes, Lacey Koerner, Travis Smith and Glyn Williams at Wimbledon.

SMT rallies to deliver at Wimbledon after last-minute leadership shakeup

When longtime Wimbledon technical lead James Brewster suffered a serious injury just days before departure, SMT staff from multiple departments stepped in with little warning, rearranged their lives, and delivered another successful championship. What followed was a remarkable example of teamwork, resilience and the strength of SMT’s deep bench.

For Glyn Williams, who typically serves as Wimbledon’s technical lead, the event quickly became a juggling act. After learning of James’ accident early Friday morning, Glyn spent the next two days helping to care for James’ children while James' wife was at the hospital, and assembling a revised game plan. By Sunday, he was on a plane to London and assuming a broader role that now included project management.

“We communicated with the 50+ staff coming to the event and divided up responsibilities between myself, Kaleb, Lacey, Courtney and Travis,” he said. Despite limited setup time and a fast-approaching integration test, the team stayed focused. “I’m extremely proud of our team leaders coming together to ensure qualifying and main draw events were executed with the high standards always expected at Wimbledon.”

“The biggest challenge was catching up on all the work Brewster had done leading up to the event,” Kaleb said. “Even though he couldn’t be there, the prep he did absolutely set us up for success.” Kaleb emphasized how critical it was to have a team he could count on: “Working with such a great SMT crew was pretty memorable. It made my life a lot easier with everyone working hard and staying on task.”

Josh Gray had just three days’ notice before he was on a flight to oversee scoring services for qualifying rounds at Roehampton. "I was out at the qualifying site each day managing the chair umpire and scheduling services,” Josh said. “The way the management team came together to fill in for Brewster is something I’m proud of.”

Meanwhile, Olivier Lorin stepped into an account management role after a colleague resigned shortly before the tournament. Balancing time between Wimbledon in England and The Amundi Evian Championship in France, Olivier was in London for seven days, using the opportunity to meet with clients and grow SMT’s global tennis presence.

“We did a fantastic job reviewing the evolution of our products,” he said, noting that the trip opened the door for potential new partnerships, including delivery of CARAT at the WTA Finals. And yes—he confirmed the British summer’s “heat wave” lived up to its reputation: “Three consecutive days above 77°F... seriously?”

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: NTT DATA WALL

NTT DATA Wall merges real-time storytelling with immersive experience for fans at The Open Championship

Thanks to Jon Kaczmarski, Vice President, Creative & Strategy, and Alexandra Batista, Creative Production Manager, for contributing to this report. 

This July, at the 153rd Open Championship, fans arriving at Royal Portrush were greeted by a dramatically reimagined NTT DATA Wall—a 20-meter-wide dynamic storytelling canvas that brought the action of all 18 holes to life in real time. A collaborative partnership between NTT DATA, ENP Media, and SMT, the Wall served as both a fan destination and a technological showcase, fusing data and design to offer a deeper, more cinematic look into the championship.

Driven by NTT DATA’s vision for transforming data into insight-rich fan experiences, SMT helped power the Wall’s real-time data engine, using Unreal Engine 5 to convert live player stats into visually stunning 3D animations. Spectators were treated to fly-throughs of the course, live player tracking, hole-by-hole stats, weather-informed visuals, and historic data comparisons—all rendered seamlessly, moment by moment.

From leaderboard fly-tos and head-to-head visuals to animated drive scatter plots and heatmaps, the Wall told the story of The Open with nuance and drama.

“What made this project so special was the shared commitment to storytelling,” said Jon Kaczmarski, SMT’s Vice President of Creative and Strategy. “NTT DATA had a clear vision—to not just inform fans, but to immerse them. Working in close partnership with ENP Media, we designed a system that delivers data as experience. It’s not just about showing numbers—it’s about showing why they matter, in the moment, in a way only possible through collaboration.”

“We also want to recognize the incredible work from our engineers in Jacksonville,” Kaczmarski added. “Larry Bodiford, our lead TVI developer, built the data ingestion engine and automation controls that kept everything flowing smoothly in real time. And Jacob Odden created the HTML leaderboard panel, a deceptively simple interface that played a huge role in how fans tracked the tournament. Their work was critical to the success of the system.”

SMT’s contributions included the development of a robust, operator-friendly data platform capable of ingesting and prioritizing over 280,000 live data points. These were dynamically fed to ENP Media’s design system, triggering animations that reflected key storylines as they unfolded on the course.

CLIENT TESTIMONIAL

'It was great to have the team from SMT involved in creating this year’s fan experience on the NTT DATA Wall at The Open. They have decades of experience managing sports data for broadcasters and sports events around the world. Their expertise made it possible to deliver, for golf fans, what we deliver to our clients all over the world–deep and useful insights, driven by data and delivered in impactful ways.'

Gregor McQuattie
Head of Media, NTT DATA (UK&I)

INTERNS!  SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES!

We'd love to hear about the work you're doing this summer in your department.
Send your article to be featured in Oculus to c.jenkins@SMT.com.

NOMINATE A COLLEAGUE (OR YOURSELF!)

Click here to anonymously nominate someone to be featured in Talent Spotlight!

Events and Remote Teams

We are staffing 15 events this week. Safe travels to all!

Content in Oculus is proprietary and should not be shared outside of SMT without permission.