AVNation ICONS: Jacob Lutz

What makes an AVNation ICON? In the case of Jacob Lutz, it’s his phenomenal response to a broadcast nightmare. A 5 a.m. call the day after Thanksgiving informed Lutz that a water main had broken at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, where he’s the Director of Technical Operations for the Nashville Predators. The results were devastating. Water flooded the building, leaving millions of dollars in damage

The Predators were scheduled to play a hockey game later that day. That was just one of Lutz’s worries. The arena’s broadcast gear was destroyed, and replacing it quickly would be a task of herculean proportions.

Lutz jumped into his car and headed to the arena, dreading what he would find.

From Family Farm to Broadcasting
Lutz can’t say broadcasting technology topped his list of potential careers when he was a boy growing up in Madisonville, KY. “We had a lot of pigs and a lot of cows,” he says with some reverence; Lutz was enamored with agriculture and the business side of the family farm. It’s where he developed the work ethic and find-a-way attitude that could serve him well in any career.

After high school, Lutz enrolled at the University of Evansville in Indiana. When he arrived on the campus as a freshman, technology still was not on his mind, and he chose to major in economics. However, a professor mentoring him saw other possibilities and suggested he explore broadcasting. Soon after, Lutz and his academic goals pivoted.

There was no going back.

After graduating from Evansville in 2018, Lutz spent two years as a video operations graduate assistant at Belmont University in Nashville, working with athletics media relations. During that time, he also worked as a graduate intern for the Ohio Valley Conference, assisting with several broadcast and multimedia duties.

All of it was preparing him for a future with the Nashville Predators.

2 Million Gallons Of Water Is Tough On Broadcast Gear
When Lutz reached the flooded Bridgestone Arena on that November morning, the enormity of the task before him and everyone else became evident quickly. In the two hours between the time the water main broke and the time the water was finally shut off, 2 million gallons of water poured into the building.

“Water was everywhere,” Lutz says. “The ceiling. The walls.”

In some areas, the water stood several feet deep.

“My first thought was, ‘We have a hockey game this afternoon,’ “ Lutz says. “I know our team. They will want to play hockey.”

With that in mind, he began to see what equipment he could salvage to help do his part to make the game happen. But then the arena ice started to melt, and everyone switched from game-day mode to recovery and restore mode. The game was off.

That melting ice could have been a metaphor for what Lutz discovered with the parts of the arena that were within his purview.

“The control room was a loss,” he says. “The tech center was a loss. We couldn’t make much, if any, of the equipment run. But a couple of key pieces survived and were functional.”

Predator executives gathered for a meeting. They asked Lutz what he needed so they could get back to playing hockey and how long it would take before they could have their next game.

He told them it would take months to rebuild everything. Then he added: “But if you give me a little time and free rein to do my job, I will make it so we can play in three days.”

Bridgestone Arena: Hockey, Concerts, And Much Much More
It is a sight to behold when Bridgestone Arena is not recovering from a water main break. The arena seats 17,500 hockey game fans and hosts concerts and numerous other events. The arena is admired enough that it was chosen to host the 2023 NHL draft, the Country Music Association Awards, the Country Music Television Awards, and the SEC Basketball Tournament.

Lutz works behind the scenes to ensure the arena’s reputation and allure continue. He also has a hand in keeping other Predator-connected operations happening.

“Many people don’t realize that the Nashville Predators is a pretty large company,” Lutz says. “We are known for the hockey team, but the best way to describe it is we are a big holding company for other companies.”

One of those companies is Powers Management, the organization’s arm that manages Bridgestone Arena. Another subsidiary is Sabertooth Sports & Entertainment, which operates the 5,000-seat F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, TN. The Predators also own two ice rinks in middle Tennessee.

At age 27, Lutz is one of the youngest directors of technical operations in the NHL.

“I’m blessed with an organization that saw something in me and trusted me with it,” he says.

His job covers a lot of areas. One of the key ones is creating a great fan experience, whether for the Stanley Cup finals or one of the smaller events the arena hosts. His department works closely with the NHL.

The team also assists the Predators coaching staff to give them the tools they need. And, of course, they strive to be on the cutting edge of sports entertainment. Fan experience and engagement are critical.

“It’s really diverse,” Lutz notes.

Three Days Later
After making his vow to get a hockey game happening three days after the deluge at Bridgestone Arena, Lutz went to work, calling on a network of resources he knew could provide the desperately needed equipment.

Those resources came through.

Lyon Video offered a TV truck with the nuts and bolts to do the job as an impromptu control room. CTI, a leading custom audio-visual systems integration solutions specialist, connected Lutz and his team with others who could help. “We assembled a small army of engineers,” Lutz says. He credits Stephen Hart, a member of his staff, with playing a key role.

The MacGyvered game-day extravaganza worked.

“We pulled off a game that had 98 percent of our show,” he says. “It didn’t look good on the back side, but it worked.”

Once that initial hurdle was cleared, Lutz gathered representatives from CTI and other partners for a three-hour meeting to plot out a still temporary but more involved plan. Part of that involved securing a more permanent truck to serve as the control room and using another space in the building for some of his department’s needs.

Months later, the recovery at the arena remained ongoing, but no other events were canceled after that first day. The truck vendor helped out by giving the Predators a good rental package, Lutz says, and CTI assisted in helping the organization find the equipment it needed in a timely fashion.

“The biggest thing I learned is you have to trust your instinct and go,” Lutz says. “Surround yourself with people smarter than you and people who are experts in their fields.”

At the same time, the organization decided to view the recovery effort as an opportunity to innovate, make changes, rethink how they do things, and even rethink the fan experience. Lutz says the question is always: “What is the next thing we can do to give the fans goosebumps?” You can be sure Lutz and his team will be on top of it!