Portable vs. permanent film towers: which one does your program need?

A permanent filming tower gets your camera higher, but it's a construction project tied to one field. The portable film tower is the FT-10, sold on the end of a SpotView press box as the SpotView + FT-10. It gets the camera over the play for a published price, with no foundation, and rolls to the next field. For many high school and college programs filming on more than one field, portable is the better buy.

Prices and the builder live on the press boxes page. The FT-10 is the film tower. The ProView is a different product: a 10' press box that also gives a high filming position, $29,499, quoted directly. They are not the same unit.

What's the difference between a portable and a permanent film tower?

A permanent tower is built in place: engineered, set on a foundation and fixed to one spot, often 30–50 feet up. A portable tower is a manufactured aluminum platform on casters that you roll into position and move after the game. Permanent buys maximum height at one venue; portable buys flexibility and a known price.

Thirty to fifty feet describes fixed towers in general. It is not a model we sell.

When does a portable setup beat a permanent tower?

When the job is game film and practice film at a height you can budget, on more than one field, without a construction project.

• Cost you can budget. The SpotView + FT-10 is $37,203 in the builder. The ProView, a 10' press box you can also film from, is $29,499, quoted directly. A permanent tower is priced by bid, with engineering, foundation, and site work on top. This page does not put a dollar figure on that bid.
• More than one field. A football stadium, a practice field, and soccer and lacrosse fields can share one portable unit. Casters, two of them locking, plus the optional tow kit, are how it moves. A permanent tower serves the venue it was built on.
• No foundation, no site construction. Prefab from Shelby. Assembly on arrival by your crew or a local contractor. No concrete pour on your field.
• Practice film. A permanent tower stays at the game venue. A portable one goes where practice is.
• Replacing a lift or bleacher top row. The unit is on your sideline on the days you did not book a rental. This page does not quote rental rates.

When permanent may be right. One main venue, you need far more than 10' of height, and you have a capital construction budget. A 10' ProView press box is for working from and for shooting over the play. It is not a tall fixed tower.

How high does a film tower need to be for football?

For game film and practice footage, most programs want 8–10 feet of viewing height — high enough to shoot over the line instead of through it. The ProView's 10' press-box deck is built for that. The film tower itself is the FT-10, on the end of a SpotView.

The football page is the sport home for that sideline. The ProView is a 10' press box, and filming from it is a use, not a different product. A 4' press box with the FT-10 film tower on the same footprint is the SpotView + FT-10.

How high for soccer?

Soccer film is about the shape of the team across a wide field, so the goal is the same: get the camera above the players' heads so you can see spacing, not just the ball. The same 10' ProView press box works on the touchline, and so does the FT-10 on a SpotView.

There is no separate soccer height number on this site, and this page does not add one. The soccer page and the lacrosse page point at the same press boxes and the FT-10.

Film tower, press box, or both?

Work from the sideline, film over the play, or do both from one footprint. Those are three different purchases.

• Work from the deck. Clock, spotting, announcing. The SpotView is a 4' press box at $20,999. The FieldView is a 6' press box at $26,999, which is the deck that clears a standing crowd on a busy near sideline. These are press boxes. They are for working from, not for filming over the play.
• The tallest press box. The ProView is a 10' press box at $29,499, quoted directly at the ProView quote form. It sits alongside the SpotView (4') and the FieldView (6'). Filming from that deck is a normal use. It uses the same frame and the same options as the other press boxes, and it is not in the builder yet.
• A film tower on a press box. The FT-10 is the film tower. The SpotView + FT-10 is a 4' SpotView press box with the FT-10 attached to its end, $37,203 in the builder. The announcer and scorer stay on the deck. The camera goes up the tower. One unit, one footprint. It is not the ProView with a different name.

Choose the ProView when you want a 10' press box, including a high place to film from. Choose the SpotView + FT-10 when you want a 4' press box and the FT-10 film tower on the same unit. The ProView block and the builder are where those choices are priced. SpotView and FieldView decks are 10'6" by 5'0", non-skid, on a heavy-duty aluminum frame, with a full-width ladder and handrails, a bench and scorer's table, and four casters, two locking. Enclosures are open, canvas, or 3-sided or 4-sided plexiglass. The tow kit is a carbon steel drawbar with a 2" receiver. Option prices stay in the builder.

What should you check on any film tower's spec sheet?

Ask the same questions of any tower, including ours.

• Deck height
• Deck size
• Rated capacity
• Wind guidance
• Access: ladder or stairs, and handrails
• Wheels or casters, and which ones lock
• A towing option
• Enclosure options
• Warranty, and who answers a claim
• Published price versus quote-only
• Lead time and freight

Where we have published an answer: SpotView and FieldView decks are 10'6" by 5'0", non-skid, with a full-width ladder and handrails, four casters (two locking), and an optional tow-kit drawbar. The warranty is 3 years, answered by the Shelby shop. Lead time is 4–6 weeks. We ship nationwide and to Canada. Freight is quoted separately. The four prices are in the section above.

For the ProView's deck size, rated capacity, and wind guidance: ask us, and we will send the specification. Those figures are not published here. Assembly is on arrival; how much depends on the model and the options. Ask before you order.

Where are the spec sheets?

Dimensioned drawings for the two press boxes are on the site. They are pages, not downloadable files.

• SpotView SV-4 specification drawing
• FieldView FV-6 specification drawing
• Request the ProView spec sheet — there is no ProView drawing on the site yet.

If the sideline also needs cover for the players, that is a separate product. Euro Series team shelters are the bench: mill-finish aluminum, tinted polycarbonate, wheels standard. The football page puts the shelter, the press box, and the FT-10 on the same sideline so they can go on one purchase order.

How programs use a portable film tower

Three illustrations. Not case studies, and no program is named.

Use case A — college football, illustrative. Game film at the stadium, practice film on another field, one unit towed between them. A 4' press box with the FT-10 film tower on the same footprint is the SpotView + FT-10. A 10' press box you can also film from is the ProView.

Use case B — high school multi-sport, illustrative. One portable unit for football in the fall and soccer or lacrosse in the spring, moved with a utility vehicle and the tow kit.

Use case C — a soccer program replacing a rented lift, illustrative. The camera has been going up on a lift that has to be booked. The ProView, a 10' press box, is there without a reservation, and you can film from that deck.

What arrives, and what you do with it

Standard lead time is 4–6 weeks. The unit ships nationwide and to Canada. Freight is quoted separately. Assembly on arrival is done by your crew or a local contractor — ask and we will tell you what is involved before you order. Built in one shop in Shelby, North Carolina, since 1994. The warranty is 3 years. If you buy through a dealer, the dealer's price is the one that counts.

Price the SpotView + FT-10 in the builder, or request a ProView quote. Call 866-482-0221 or email sales@pitchequipment.com.