Tracking at the White House: How Mo-Sys Delivered on the Biggest Stage

On 20 July 2025, the South Lawn of the White House became the most scrutinised sports venue on earth. 

To mark 250 years of American independence, UFC staged a live fight night – Freedom 250 – broadcast nationally on CBS, with the White House as the backdrop and over 100 million eyes watching. Mo-Sys was there to make the impossible look routine.

The Brief

UFC wanted virtual elements integrated into the live broadcast – fight card graphics as 3D augmented overlays – rendered convincingly against one of the most recognisable buildings in the world. To achieve it, they needed rock-solid camera tracking on a 45-foot crane, operating in an outdoor environment with zero margin for error and almost no time to prepare.

The Conditions

Nothing about the South Lawn was tracking-friendly.

The crane arm would be away from the canopy that had been erected over the octagon, making conventional marker placement impractical. Mo-Sys's solution: large 100mm StarTracker stickers, mounted on low stakes across the lawn below – stable enough not to shift within a compact space to avoid disrupting the site.

Then reality intervened. The National Park Service, faithfully tending the grounds, watered the lawn and the stickers with it, warping and disfiguring them across the day. Bleachers full of spectators threatened to occlude tracking markers entirely. A prominent American flag cast a hard triangular shadow that registered as a solid black cut-out in the StarTracker's filtered view.

Rehearsals ran during the day, but the actual show would run into the night.

The Response

Mo-Sys didn't wait for perfect conditions. They adapted in real time – laying sections of carpet around compromised markers to improve contrast, adjusting tracking parameters to make the system more forgiving as conditions shifted, and continuously monitoring performance across a site that was changing by the hour.

When full-sun washout made certain markers unreadable, they worked around it. When footfall from production crew flattened stickers mid-rehearsal, they kept tracking. A cable cam had also been earmarked by the production for virtual graphics, but its tracking proved too unreliable. Mo-Sys's crane became the sole virtual camera for the entire broadcast. The pressure doubled. 

As the lights came up over the White House and the octagon at night, StarTracker stayed locked and stable.

The Result

CBS got its virtual graphics. UFC got its historic broadcast. And Mo-Sys delivered camera tracking on a 45-foot crane, in an open outdoor environment, under conditions that would easily have defeated a less robust system.

Freedom 250 wasn't just a fight night. For Mo-Sys, it was proof that StarTracker belongs on the biggest stages in the world – wherever they happen to be.