Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today announced that its state-of-the-art broadcast lenses will be capturing the action at Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas—the country’s largest esports stadium. To outfit the stadium’s 4K UHD broadcast cameras, the City of Arlington purchased three Canon UHD-DIGISUPER 66 4K UHD field box lenses, four CJ24ex7.5B 4K UHD telephoto zoom lenses and one CJ14ex4.3B 4K UHD wide angle zoom lens. 

Located in the heart of Arlington’s Entertainment District, Esports Stadium Arlington is a $10 million, 100,000 square-foot facility built to serve the unique and technologically advanced demands of the esports industry. Designed by award-winning architectural firm Populous and brought to life with build partner Shawmut Design and Construction, the stadium features a competition space with a built-in 85 foot-long, LED wall accompanied by an immersive sound and theatrical lighting system.

Providing 4K optical performance for cameras that feature 2/3-inch sensors, the UHD-DIGISUPER 66 mid-range telephoto zoom lens features a 66x zoom ratio, making it ideal for sports and live-event productions. Leveraging Canon's Optical Shift Image Stabilizer (Shift-IS), this lens provides both handling and operational controls similar to existing field-zoom lenses for HDTV broadcast cameras, offering stable imaging and comfortable maneuverability during indoor and outdoor sports broadcasting.

"Canon's ability to supply lenses that met our 4K visual needs, budget constraints, support and time requirements helped us succeed in building this industry-changing facility," says Corey Dunn, Executive Producer with NGAGE Esports, who oversaw all operations and production for Esports Stadium Arlington. "Working with Canon has been great and has afforded us the maximum flexibility for a facility of this size."

The City of Arlington also purchased four CJ24ex7.5B 4K UHD telephoto zoom lenses and one CJ14ex4.3B 4K UHD wide angle zoom lens, notable for their compact size and low weight, supporting high-mobility shooting often involved in sports-entertainment production. All the lenses, which are being paired with Grass Valley cameras, will enhance current HDTV optical-imaging performance, while solidifying a place for the shift to 4K production.

“We chose Canon’s broadcast lenses not only for their superb 4K optical quality, but for the Company’s leading service and support offerings,” said Marc Scarpa, founder and executive producer of Simplynew, the systems integrator for the stadium. “This is more than an one-time equipment purchase—it’s the start of a new relationship with Canon as we look to shape the future of esports.”

For more information on Canon’s broadcast solutions, visit www.usa.canon.com/broadcast. For more information about Esports Stadium Arlington, visit http://www.arlington-tx.gov/esports.