Super Bowl LX takes place on Sunday February 8 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, and the sheer amount of camera tech being deployed to capture the event is astonishing.
It is a massive weekend for sports broadcasting. Over in Italy, the Winter Olympics starts, while in Santa Clara, Super Bowl LX takes place. NBC Sports is covering both for US audiences and the sheer amount of kit being used is staggering.
We'll have more on the Olympics soon, but first Sony has released the kit list it is supplying to the broadcaster and other media partners for the Bay Area game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. And, as an official technology partner of the NFL, it's immense.
Sony doesn't make broadcast lenses, so we'll have to wait for that information to come out from other sources (though Canon has revealed how many are in Italy for the Winter Olympics — more to come on that elsewhere).
We tried to total up how much all those cameras were worth, but to be honest started losing track when it got into the millions of dollars. All together, Super Bowl LX will feature over 175 Sony cameras deployed on and around the field and stadium to capture both still photos and videos.
The halftime kit list comprises:
11 Sony VENICE 2 Digital Cinema Cameras
3 Sony BURANO Digital Cinema Cameras
1 Sony FR7 Cinema Line PTZ Camera
And don't forget this is all for a live broadcast as well. It might only be around 12 - 14 minutes long (NBC needs to make a fortune from the ad break as well) but it's as high-end and rigorously choreographed as anything you are likely to see this year.
Sony's imaging technology will also play a major role supporting in-venue production teams, as well as sideline photographers including The Associated Press and the NFL's in-house photography and media teams.
Kit here comprises:
10 Sony UHD cameras, including the HDC-3500 (hard positions), HDC-5500 (HFR), HDC-3500 (RF wireless) and ILME-FX3A (RF shallow depth of field) with Sony's E-mount lenses sideline & photography Support
The Associated Press: 55 Sony camera bodies, 80 lenses, 15 PDT-FP1 Portable data transmitters
NFL Focus Photography Team: 8 Sony's cameras, 20 lenses
(Sony specifically namechecks Alpha 1 II and Alpha 9 III models, and E-mount lenses including G Master, but doesn't provide and actual quantities.)
Sony Imaging PRO Support: 45 Sony full frame mirrorless cameras, 90 E-mount lenses, 12 PDT-FP1 Portable data transmitters, PXW-Z200 camcorders. There's also a Pre‑Loan Program underway, with an estimated 10 bodies and 15 lenses shipped in advance.
And above and beyond this, Super Bowl LX will feature the first fully integrated optical player and ball tracking environment powered by Sony's Hawk-Eye Innovations. Sony's Hawk-Eye SkeleTRACK system tracks 29-points on each player and provides 3D ball tracking. In combination with Zebra Technologies' RFID wearables, this provides a player tracking system that it is hoped will enhance the league's ability to analyze on-field movement and ball position with greater clarity and consistency.
Sony's NFL Coach's Headsets, which debuted at the start of the 2025 season and are based on the company's 1000X headphone series, will also be used by team coaches and staff.