This season, Atlanta Braves fans watching Gray Media broadcasts will experience a visually striking presentation heavily favoring their team. Forget neutral logos; this is unabashed Braves territory, immediately apparent from the opening frame. Gameday Creative designed the package around a "home field advantage" theme, significantly amplifying the Braves' presence. Diamond motifs and team colors dominate, clearly establishing the team and its identity.
“There is a lexicon. There is a known sports media language,” said Eric Say of Gameday Creative. “Gray Sports wanted fans to turn on the TV and know that they were watching a sports broadcast. They wanted to be speaking that sports graphics language.” This approach is consistent throughout, with the Braves logo dominating every graphic. Unlike national broadcasts that give equal visual weight to competing teams, “Braves on Gray” fully utilizes the regional network advantage.
“When they do a match-up graphic, they got to put them at equal sizes. Both logos have to be the same size,” Say explained about national broadcasters. “When it’s a regional sports network… you know who you’re cheering for, you can make that logo bigger.” Even in hero frames, the hierarchy is unmistakable: “The Braves logo is the biggest thing by a mile,” Say noted. Gray branding is cleverly integrated alongside the Braves logo in many instances.
“We want the viewer who doesn’t care about broadcast rights and deals… They want to just tune in to watch their favorite team,” said Scott Flato of Gameday Creative, highlighting their viewer-centric approach. While the 2025 season marks its debut, Gray Media’s ambitions extend far beyond baseball. The company aims to become a major player in regional sports broadcasting across various sports and markets, a vision reflected in the design's development. “This is just iteration one,” Say noted. “Gray is going to support other sports… So from a design standpoint, it made a pretty interesting project.”
The diamond shape is the fundamental design element for baseball – a visual cornerstone that will evolve as Gray expands its broadcasting portfolio. “We wanted a hero shape language for every sport,” Say explained. “This really small fundamental thing can be echoed across the entire package. And we came up with the diamond for baseball, for very obvious reasons.” This modular approach ensures brand consistency while allowing adaptability across different sports. “You just change out the diamond for whatever the shape language is going to be for football, maybe it’s a gridiron… or basketball, maybe it’s the basketball lines,” said Say. “You have a formula to update this going forward.”
The package's ease of updating is a key feature for local creative services teams across the Gray Media network. It uses Cinema 4D, with compositing and layering for efficient color updates and sport-specific elements. Transitions between baseball, basketball, or football are streamlined. “Where you see the repeated baseballs, that’s a separate pass in 3D that’s composited on top of the background so those can change to basketballs or footballs,” Say explained. Extensive templating ensures compatibility across different broadcast locations and skill levels, prioritizing flexibility and ease of use.
Dave Bachman and The Academy of Lower Thirds handled insert elements (score box, lower thirds) using Vizrt. Stephen Arnold Music composed the modular theme music, featuring a blend of live orchestration and modern instruments. While 3D renders and static design are crucial, Gameday Creative prioritized motion design. “One area that we feel has been slept on [in the larger sports world]… is the motion logic of it,” Say said. “We knew this package wanted to move. We wanted to put motion first.”
The team avoided trendy elements like echoing type to ensure longevity. “The more disruptive a graphics package is, the lower its shelf life,” Say noted. “We still wanted it to be modern and to be on brand, where sports graphics are at, but we wanted it to have a little bit of a staying power.” This balance acknowledges the financial realities of RSNs. “These RSNs and these deals, like money and budgets are finite. They have to be strategic about their graphics package.”
Flato and Say praised Gray Sports for their collaborative approach. “They got out of our way and just let us design,” Say said. “That trust meant so much to us.” Launching with the Braves, the package will soon be seen on additional Gray Media regional broadcasts across various sports.