Pendleton, Indiana-based Dodd Technologies, Inc., which works from page to stage building sets and audiovisual elements that make for memorable events, utilized an array of Ayrton lighting fixtures, grandMA3 consoles and MDG hazers for the 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game.  ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of the Ayrton, MA Lighting and MDG brands in North America.

Dodd Technologies acted as the production partner with Pacer Sports & Entertainment for the All-Star Weekend events at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.  Friday night July 18 featured the WNBA Skills Challenge, which was broadcast on ESPN.  The game was played on Saturday and aired live on ABC, Disney+ and ESPN+.  Dodd Technologies was not only responsible for the game’s halftime show, headlined by GloRilla, but also for the musical team introductions and other performances that added entertainment value to the weekend telecasts.  The company had previously worked on the 2024 NBA All-Star Game and has a number of major sports credits.

Dodd Technologies designed the halftime stage to be an organic part of the court.  “We wanted to make sure what we built looked like part of the existing architecture of the space,” says Vice President Andy Meggenhofen, who acted as the event’s Lighting Designer.  “The all-LED stage had an upstage wall, side walls that staggered down to follow the seating lines, and a large LED floor.  It was a very dynamic stage with a lot of depth and 3D effects while keeping the sight lines to all the seats.  It provided great backgrounds for camera and great visuals for the live, sold-out audience.”

About half of the Ayrton lighting used for the event had previously been sold by Dodd Technologies to the Fieldhouse to be part of its permanent inventory.  Dodd supplemented that gear with its own Ayrton fixtures keeping in mind that they needed “fixtures with a lot of utility, versatile feature sets and long-throw capabilities.”

Fifty Ayrton Khamsins were mounted in trusses about 100 feet over the main stage to deliver key lighting and effects.  “They do both very well,” says Meggenhofen.  “Khamsin is a good utility fixture; as a profile it covers a lot of ground and its output cuts through for TV lighting.  They provided the punch we needed without blocking sight lines.”

Sixteen Zonda 9 FX furnished back light for the main stage.  “They are a great wash light from an output standpoint and very successful as effects lights,” he notes.  “We’ve used them on media day shoots for Indy Car, the Pacers and Fever and gotten a lot of very dynamic looks out of them.”

Four more Zonda 9 FX were set into the teams’ entry hallways to highlight players’ exits from the tunnels.

Seventy-four laser-source Cobra2s were also deployed.  “We’ve found a good niche for them with their beam effects outlining the court and their scanning effects and unique projections on the court,” Meggenhofen explains.  He points out that since “all the power had to go to the ceiling, we could get a lot of these fixtures in the air without requiring a lot of power.  They run very efficiently!”

Dodd Technologies has been using the grandMA platform for about 15 years, and Meggenhofen says, “we’re very entrenched with them.  From consoles to nodes, they’ve been very reliable, trustworthy, easy to set up and versatile.  And the support we’ve received from ACT and MA Lighting is also a big selling point.”

The company programmed the halftime show on grandMA3 consoles and provided a complement of gear for the show’s lighting control.  Two full-size grandMA3s operated on the ground and at FOH for focus.  Both eventually moved to the FOH position with one desk acting as a backup unit.  In addition, Dodd supplied two XL processors, four 8-port nodes and a replay unit.

Dodd also placed one MDG ATMe haze generator with fan in each of the four corners of the catwalk.  “This is our standard hazer for these types of events,” Meggenhofen reports.  “They provide a very even haze into the building without seeing the source.  It’s great quality haze for TV; it does what you need it to do without giving that lingering smoke look.”

Dodd conferred early on with ACT to confirm the plans they had in mind for the event and Meggenhofen notes that “our reps were great at answering our questions at all times of day: They were always available.  There’s a lot of good gear out there, but it’s really all about the support.”

For the WNBA events Jason Lenhart and Asher McKenna were the Master Electricians; Nic Claypool the Lead Rigger and JD Fackler the House Rigger; Chris Lintner House Lighting; Jennifer Beavers Game Lighting; Otis Howard the TV Lighting Director; Stephen Sakowski the Follow Spot Lighting Director; Jess Baker the Programmer; Mike Grimes the Gaffer; and Nolan Howard the Lighting PA.