The Man Behind The Camera

Over the past decade, video coverage of professional sports teams has come a long way. With shows like HBO’s Hard Knocks and Netflix’s Drive to Survive, fans can learn more about their favorite athletes than ever before.

And it’s not just major production companies giving fans behind-the-scenes access. Teams across all major sports are creating series of their own, like the Tampa Bay Lightning with Recharge, Bolts Beginnings and New In Blue. Those projects didn’t come to life overnight, and one of the biggest pieces in making sure they eventually did was Gabe Marte, the Lightning’s Director of Video and Media Production.

The son of two Dominican parents, Marte was born in New York before his family moved to Tampa when he was two years old. He still has family in Washington Heights, which at one time was the largest Dominican community in the United States.

After gaining video experience at Alonso High School and Florida State University, Marte accepted a position as an intern with the Lightning organization during the summer of 2012, spending most of his time working on in-game video production for the Arena Football League’s Tampa Bay Storm. Hoping to land at least a part-time role heading into the 2012-13 NHL season, Marte’s plans hit a snag on September 15 when the NHL deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement passed without an agreement, resulting in a lockout.

“Fortunately, there were always rumors of them coming back,” Marte said. “They kept me on part-time with the Storm and I've been here ever since. We were slowly getting ready for the Lightning’s 20^th anniversary year, so I was lucky enough to work on a lot of historical pieces and other projects that would be shown during the games in-bowl.”

Thankfully, the rumors were true. A tentative deal on a CBA was reached in early January, allowing the NHL to have a 48-game regular season that began on the 19^th. The following season, Jon Cooper’s first full year behind the Bolts bench, Marte was rewarded with an offer for a full-time position with some different responsibilities, including traveling with the team and primarily focusing on video coverage for the Lightning website.

After accepting the job, he was all set for his first road trip with the team, a back-to-back set against the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings. But it didn’t get off to the hottest start.

“I was late to the plane,” said Marte with a laugh. “I didn’t even own a full suit. I was just wearing a shirt, tie and pants. I drove past the airport like three times and I’m calling our PR guy like, ‘Where in the world is this place?’ So, I’m the new guy showing up late, running onto the plane.

“But I’ll always remember getting on the plane after the Buffalo game. I’m walking on and there’s Steve Yzerman, sitting right in the front. He stands up, blocks me, shakes my hand, introduces himself and says, ‘Welcome to the team.’ I'll never forget that. He’s a legend who needs no introduction and he made me feel welcome and feel like part of the team.”

Almost 10 years later, the video landscape has changed quite a bit. Marte has gone from uploading game previews to the Lightning website at 480p to leading the shooting and production of four seasons of a cinematic, behind-the-scenes series in Recharge. 

“It has definitely changed,” Marte explained. “Video is everywhere now. You’re watching on your computer or you’re watching on your phone. That's where our fans are digesting all this awesome content, and now we’re able to get it to them so quickly.

“Fans don't have to wait until a home game to watch this cool piece you made, or this awesome interaction between a player and a patient in a hospital, or two players just making fun of each other and having a good moment.

“Now, we can show our fans what our players are up to away from the rink. We can do a Question Cam and find out everyone’s favorite holiday song. It’s just given us an enhanced ability to humanize the players more, while still putting out the information that fans want on the hockey side of things.”

While the Lightning’s video content has grown immensely over the past 10 years, it doesn’t happen without the trust of players and coaches alike, and Marte has been one of the key cogs in gaining that trust.

“Gabe’s irreplaceable when it comes to what he means for the Lightning organization,” said Michael O’Halloran, who has worked under Marte for the last four years after starting with the Bolts in 2016-17. “You'd be hard pressed to find anyone more universally liked by the front office and locker room. He has great perspective. He’s passionate about what he does. His positivity and friendliness have been huge in building that trust with the team and hockey operations. That’s allowed us to take our video content to places we honestly never dreamed we could.”

Gaining all that trust has opened doors and allowed Lightning fans to see their favorite team in an entirely different way than ever before.

“The relationship and the trust that we have from the staff and Coop has been the biggest thing,” Marte explained. “I considered it a huge wall between us and the locker room when this all started. It’s all about chipping away at that wall, and we’ve done a lot of chipping away in my 10 years here.

“It’s been pretty cool to see just how far we've come, from not being able to go in the locker room to now being in there when Coop's giving a big speech to the team or there’s tender moments with the group.

“One of those great moments was Pierre-Edouard Bellemare opening up to the team about the death of his mother. I thought that may be out of bounds and started pulling my camera down. Then Coop whistled at me and motioned for me to shoot it. Through that, we captured an incredible moment from that season. It’s been really cool to be part of moments like that and also be able to capture them.”

After all the long hours, hard work and consistent chipping away, Marte got rewarded in 2021 when the Lightning won their second-straight Stanley Cup on home ice at AMALIE Arena. With limited staff allowed to enter the COVID bubble during the 2020 NHL playoffs, he was unable to be in attendance in Edmonton when Tampa Bay lifted the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2004.

And while there were still COVID restrictions during the 2021 Final, Marte had full access when the Lightning won the Cup for a second-straight year.

“I just remember getting out on the ice and celebrating and hugging everyone,” he said. “I’ll always remember Alex Killorn grabbing me, hugging me and looking me right in the eyes like, ‘Gabe, congrats man. I mean it. Sincerely, congrats.’ It felt like you were part of the team.

“In retrospect, looking back on it, all that trust you've earned, all those long hours you worked on the road trips, slowly staying patient and slowly earning trust, it leads to those moments. It leads to Pat Maroon picking you up on the ice. It leads to attending Cup parties.

“Eventually, it leads to one of our PR guys calling my name out and telling me to come get the Cup. I'm like, ‘Well, I guess I’m going to do this. I'm actually going to lift the Cup on the ice.’

“It was a surreal moment. I couldn't believe I was doing that. I’m just thinking like, ‘Man, look at me. I’m this kid who just took an internship and wasn't really familiar with the intricacies and history of hockey. Now, I’m lifting the Stanley Cup.’

“And everyone was happy for me. No one was rolling their eyes when I did it. It was just really cool to share that moment and celebrate.”

But that wouldn’t be the last time the Cup was in Marte’s hands. That February, Brian Breseman, the Lightning’s VP of Communications and Content, stopped by his office with some news.

“He was like, ‘The Cup’s available if you want to have it,’” Marte explained. “He told me it wouldn’t be for an entire day, but I’d be able to get a couple hours with it. He walks away and I’m just thinking how amazing it would be if that actually happened.

“I didn’t think much about it and a few weeks later he stops by and he’s like, ‘Are you still good for the 16^th?’ I couldn’t believe he was being serious.”

From there, the ‘Marte Partay’ was born, and plans were quickly thrown together for a night with the Stanley Cup at his childhood home. But before arriving at the house, he had one request – a stop at the barber shop.

“My best friend is my barber and every time I go in there, the guys are always asking about the Lighting and the playoffs and how things are going,” he said. “All the barbers working there are Latinos.

“The Cup Keepers let me walk it in, which was pretty amazing., I thought for sure I would kind of just guide them in and hold the door open, but they wanted me to hold it. I still didn’t really feel worthy enough to be holding it. All I did was hit record.

“But it was an awesome moment. The picture of us is still hanging in the shop and people talk about it all the time.”

From there, it was time to party. With the Stanley Cup on a table near the pool in the backyard, roughly 75 people made their way to the Marte’s for homemade food, drinks and a party with the Cup. Even Jon Cooper swung by.

“My family was freaking out when he showed up,” Marte said.

“It was just really cool to see everyone's support and validation. I'm thinking, ‘Damn, the Cup is at my parents’ house. This is the place where I grew up and played NHL on SEGA Genesis inside. This is the place where we watched them lift the Cup in ’04.’

“It’s really special thinking about it. There it was, just sitting there for five hours at my parents’ house. A bunch of my friends had their kids with them, and they took pictures with it. It’s still the background on so many of their phones because they still can't believe it.

“Even just going through the education of the history of the Cup with my parents and sharing how special it is with my family and little cousins. It was amazing.”

Surrounded by family and friends, the highlight of the night came with a flag, some fruit and a few pieces of additional hardware. With his mother grabbing the Dominican flag and his brother running inside for green plantains from the kitchen, all that was left was the statues from the Suncoast Regional Emmy’s that were won through Recharge.

“It was unreal,” he said. “Everybody's pulling their phones out and there’s just so much pride. You realize how rare and special it is. I still look at those photos on my phone when we’re on the plane. It’s just really special.

“We were nervous about the Emmy’s because we didn’t want it to make it about us, but we set them up around the Cup and got a really cool photo. But the coolest part was the Cup Keepers taking their phones out and taking pictures because they thought it was so cool too.

“The Cup has been everywhere and has so many stories. To know that we added to that a little bit is pretty special, especially for someone who doesn't have their name on it.”

Telling the story of the Tampa Bay Lightning is what drives Gabe Marte. But beyond that, there are other responsibilities he firmly believes in. One of those is proudly representing his heritage.

“It’s important,” he said. “To know that I can maybe inspire another person, maybe another Latino videographer, and show them that they can do this is important to me.

“This game is phenomenal. The action, the history, the pageantry is unreal. This is something that can be enjoyed and shared by everybody.

“You don't have to work in baseball or football or the main sports that you predominately see Latinos in. You can have an impact in anything that you want if you set your mind to it.

“If I can play a small role in growing this game, telling the wonderful story of these amazing human beings in that locker room, and maybe inspiring some people along the way, then I'm doing a good job.”

“It sounds cliché, but I honestly wouldn't be where I am today without Gabe as my boss,” said O’Halloran. “His trust, confidence and incredible sense of honesty are what every leader should want to possess with their employees, and his passion for what he does makes coming to work every day a blast.

“Without Gabe's leadership, content like Recharge and Bolts Beginnings just wouldn't be where they are today. All the accolades, accomplishments, and recognition he’s received as an employee are incredibly well deserved and then some.”