Skycam, the company
that puts TV sports fans in the middle
of play through its suspended camera,
will move its manufacturing operations
and headquarters to a $3 million facility
scheduled to open in Broken Arrow in
January.
Tulsa-based Winnercomm Inc. acquired
Philadelphia-based Skycam a year ago
and announced plans for the move at
a news conference Tuesday.
We've already doubled Skycam's annual
revenues, and the demand for these
cameras is unbelievable, said Jim Wilburn,
president and CEO of Emmy award-winning
Winnercomm.
About 50 people will work at the 50,000-square-foot
facility in the Greenway Industrial
Park, 61st Street and 145th East Avenue,
Wilburn said.
Skycam's new home means sports fans
from football to figure skating will
soon watch games through a made-in-Oklahoma
camera.
Winnercomm, founded in 1982, has grown
to become one of the nation's largest
independent sports production, development,
marketing and sales companies. It is
the largest programming producer for
sports giant ESPN and also delivers
more than 1,000 hours of programming
each year to 12 national networks,
including ABC, CBS and NBC.
Skycam is a perfect strategic fit for
the company, Wilburn said.
The cameras are stabilized and suspended
on a system of wires above playing
fields and can be guided in multiple
directions at up to 30 mph by a joystick.
A sort of built-in radar keeps the
cameras from smashing into overhead
scoreboards or other objects, Wilburn
said.
Networks, including ABC and ESPN, rent
Skycams to give television viewers
an aerial perspective that virtually
puts fans on the field.
For a typical game on Monday Night
Football, one camera rents for about
$80,000, he said.
The handmade cameras cost about $500,000
and take 90 days to manufacture, Wilburn
said. So far, only seven of them exist.
The new manufacturing facility should
provide the capability to double production,
Wilburn said in a written statement
after the company's announcement.
Skycam's research and development,
plus its testing operations, will also
move to the new site.
This is the kind of company in Oklahoma
that we all have to work very hard
to attract, expand and to retain, said
Oklahoma Commerce Secretary Kathy Taylor,
who attend ed the news conference.
Winnercomm has 200 employees, uses
roughly 2,000 subcontractors and is
growing at the rate of about one employee
per week, company officials said. It
also manages Web sites for ESPN.com
and U.S. Figure Skating, LPGA.com,
NTRA.com and Breeders' Cup.
Skycams are already lined up in coming
months for events including Major League
Baseball games, football on ESPN and
ABC, the University of Oklahoma-University
of Texas football game, the Big 12
Championship and the Super Bowl. |
