Fred Gaudelli has been the lead producer of the Tremendous Bowl tv broadcast on seven completely different events. If you’re into Roman numerals, Gaudelli has produced Tremendous Bowls XXXVII, XL, XLIII, XLVI, XLIX, LII, and LVI. He has been within the manufacturing truck for among the most enjoyable NFL title video games in historical past, together with Tremendous Bowl XLIX in 2015, which featured New England Patriots rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepting Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson on the objective line with 20 seconds left to seal New England’s 28-24 come-from-behind win over Seattle. That recreation averaged 114.4 million viewers, which ranked because the most-viewed Tremendous Bowl in U.S. tv historical past earlier than final 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl took the title.
Throughout his 33 seasons because the lead producer for an NFL prime-time TV recreation, which included stops at ABC, ESPN, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video, Gaudelli has produced innumerable NFL video games with well-known individuals within the stands. How would he really feel in regards to the prospect of Taylor Swift attending Tremendous Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb. 11 if he had been producing the sport?
“I might contemplate it a present from the gods,” mentioned Gaudelli.
Gaudelli, as a result of he lives on Planet Earth, is aware of that Swift crosses over into widespread tradition and meaning the potential for extra eyeballs on the product. (If you’re a Swift hater, this piece goes to be a merciless summer season for you, and it’s greatest to bail out now.)
The problem for the CBS Sports activities manufacturing group for Tremendous Bowl LVIII, if Swift does make it to the sport to observe boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs tackle the San Francisco 49ers — is navigating how typically you incorporate photos of the singer into the published.
The excellent news for the crew — led by producer Jim Rikhoff, director Mike Arnold and replay producer Ryan Galvin — is that they’ve had the Chiefs loads this 12 months, together with the divisional-round recreation in Buffalo and AFC Championship Sport in Baltimore, each of which Swift attended. It could be editorial dereliction to not present Swift in the course of the recreation, however on the similar time, how a lot do you present her?
Then there’s a new query: How a lot does the Tremendous Bowl, a recreation that features thousands and thousands of people who find themselves first-time soccer viewers for that season, affect your choices on exhibiting her?
“Let’s go to the final Tremendous Bowl I did,” Gaudelli mentioned of the Los Angeles Rams’ win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Feb. 13, 2022. “We had (Rams quarterback) Matthew Stafford, his spouse and youngsters. We had (Bengals quarterback) Joe Burrow’s mother and father and girlfriend. We had (Rams vast receiver) Cooper Kupp’s spouse. We had (Rams offensive lineman) Andrew Whitworth’s spouse and youngsters. We had (Bengals vast receiver) Ja’Marr Chase’s mother and pop. You might have these pictures arrange as a result of they’re a part of the story of the sport and since there’s 5 instances as many individuals (watching) as you’d get for a standard recreation. Proper off the bat, you’re already eager about who’s on the recreation, and in L.A. we had celebrities like LeBron James and Jay-Z. (Director) Drew Esocoff was reducing these pictures in the course of the recreation. So when Stafford threw a landing go, there’s a shot of Stafford’s spouse. Burrow is on the bottom writhing in ache? You see his mother and pop and his girlfriend with the final word look of concern.
“Now you could have Taylor Swift, who is also somebody that has a direct connection to the sport as a result of she’s a major different of one of many stars of a group. Perhaps you don’t present her for each Kelce sequence, however she’s going to be a part of sequences when he makes a play.”
The airtime Swift has gotten to date throughout NFL video games is way lower than some suppose. New York Occasions author Benjamin Hoffman wrote an amazing piece this week that chronicled “the dissonance between what number of instances Swift has been proven versus what number of instances individuals appear to suppose she was proven.” He reported Swift was on-screen for a length of lower than 32 seconds in most video games, with a excessive of 1 minute and 16 seconds for Peacock’s protection of the Chiefs towards the Miami Dolphins on Jan. 13.
“You possibly can’t assist however put her on the air,” mentioned Tracy Wolfson, who shall be on the Chiefs’ sideline for the Tremendous Bowl. “I can’t inform you the quantity of dads who’ve come as much as me and mentioned, ‘My daughter is now watching soccer due to Taylor Swift.’ I imply, why wouldn’t you are taking benefit or capitalize on it? It’s nice for the NFL and it’s nice for rankings.”
Fox’s broadcast of the Chiefs’ recreation towards the Chicago Bears on Sept. 24 set the template for Swift protection as a result of the community had to determine all the things on the fly. Lead producer Richie Zyontz mentioned that his crew had no official phrase from the NFL or the Chiefs that Swift could be in attendance. (That modified in later weeks; Rikhoff knew the night time earlier than the Chiefs-Payments recreation Swift could be there.) They’d to determine the digital camera operators to make use of for the pictures in addition to what number of to make use of.
“We had been in uncharted waters having been the primary to take care of the scenario,” Zyontz mentioned this week, reflecting on that recreation. “Moderation got here to thoughts instantly. Because the season progressed there have been too many knee-jerk response pictures, but these had been the pictures that had been talked about and written about on Monday. For the Tremendous Bowl, there shall be thousands and thousands of latest viewers due to her. Hopefully, logic will prevail. However for individuals who complain, come on, it’s a couple of seconds at a time, a couple of instances a recreation. Is that actually egregious?”
“You possibly can’t assist however put her on the air,” Tracy Wolfson, who shall be working the Chiefs’ sideline on the Tremendous Bowl for the CBS broadcast, says of Taylor Swift. (Jason Hanna / Getty Photographs)
The Tremendous Bowl shall be very completely different. If Swift is on the recreation, the Chiefs and the NFL will know what suite Swift shall be sitting in on the stadium. So there shall be no points for the CBS broadcast manufacturing to find her. CBS will put a request in to interview the singer. (If there’s a prop wager on Swift being interviewed on digital camera, I’d wager no.) Gaudelli mentioned a manufacturing’s greatest shot could be to undergo the Chiefs who would relay the request to her by Kelce. You’d additionally make the ask to see if she needed to do one thing off-camera.
“We didn’t put that request in in the course of the season as a result of we didn’t suppose it rose to that degree at that time,” mentioned Gaudelli, who now serves as govt producer for NBC’s NFL protection. “However, yeah, I feel you set that in for the Tremendous Bowl. You’d attempt to get her on the pregame present.”
Anticipate some assured visuals within the postgame. If the Chiefs win, there shall be a CBS digital camera operator following Kelce, for sure.
“As a producer and director, he’s one of many principal guys you wish to see on the finish of the sport as a result of he’s a significant a part of his dynasty in the event that they win,” Gaudelli mentioned. “So the place he’s, she shall be. You don’t actually must go looking too far. You’re going to be in search of quantity 87.”
One one that is watching all of this with complete amusement is Ian Eagle, the CBS broadcaster who was the primary NFL nationwide broadcaster to acknowledge the Swift-Kelce connection. On a Kelce landing name throughout Kansas Metropolis’s 17-9 win over Jacksonville on Sept. 17, Eagle cheekily tossed in a “Kelce finds a blank space for the score” line, referencing a Swift music title.
“Kelce finds a clean area for the rating.”
Ian Eagle sneaking a reference into this Travis Kelce landing name 👀
🎥 @NFLpic.twitter.com/pQNiqZdh88
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 17, 2023
“Again in September, there have been some tales popping up linking Travis to Taylor, but it surely wasn’t getting main protection at that time,” Eagle mentioned. “When Kelce scored a landing in Jacksonville, I tossed in, ‘He finds a Clean Area for the rating’ as a lark. I believed it was a cute throwaway line, not imagining for a second it could blow up. I realized in regards to the energy of Swift in a rush, and all of those months later the curiosity has grown exponentially with this Chiefs run. The NFL was already immense. However the relationship has one way or the other created much more buzz for the league. I’m simply completely happy for these two loopy children.”
GO DEEPER
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(High photograph of Taylor Swift and her boyfriend: Patrick Smith / Getty Photographs)