By Kristian Hernández, Senior Editor
Friday, January 10, 2025 – 2:33 pm
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With the NFC North title and the No. 1 seed on the line, NBC Sports offered a highly anticipated finisher to Sunday Night Football with the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions at Ford Field last weekend. Now the broadcaster’s efforts are fixed on Raymond James Stadium for the NFL Wild Card Round with the Washington Commanders vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night. It has been two years since the broadcaster’s last visit to the Tampa venue, but the operations team will have the broadcast ready to go for kickoff.
“We have a great working relationship with the operations group at Raymond James Stadium,” says Ken Goss, EVP, studio, remote operations, and production planning, NBC Sports. “Although we haven’t been there since 2022, we work really well together.”
On Sunday, a total of 64 cameras will be deployed to capture the game for viewers at home. NBC Sports’ customary fleet of super-slow-motion and other specialty cameras will be on hand, but an additional 12 goal-line pylon cameras, provided by NEP Group’s Specialty Capture division, will be in position for plays near and around the end zone. The standard low Skycam will be joined by a high Skycam, the two covering every inch of the playing surface from above.
The Sunday Night Football operation rolls on a weekly basis with postseason levels of gear and equipment, and last Sunday’s Vikings vs. Lions configuration was no different. The game had the attention of the entire sports world, but, from an operational perspective, the broadcaster used the matchup as a test run for production of the NFL Wild Card Round. For example, the camera complement at Raymond James Stadium — with the exception of the additional goal-line pylons and the high SkyCam — replicates what was used at Ford Field.
“Every week on SNF feels like a playoff game,” Goss observes, “but Week 18 in Detroit was treated like a playoff game [from a technological standpoint].”
In the compound, the main SNF production truck — NEP ND2 A, B, C, and D units — arrived this morning. The broadcaster’s premiere NFL studio show, Football Night in America, will be produced from NEP Supershooter 3. Elsewhere, its Stamford, CT, headquarters will house a handful of remote workflows: all editing and a few crew positions, such as rules analyst Terry McAulay and stats producer Ken Hirdt.
It wouldn’t be an NFL playoff game on NBC Sports without legendary talent behind the microphone. In the booth, play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico will be joined by analyst and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Cris Collinsworth. Sideline reporter Melissa Stark will provide key updates from field level.
Prior to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. ET, Football Night in America will have host Maria Taylor; analysts Jason Garrett, Devin McCourty, and Chris Simms; NFL Insider Mike Florio; and fantasy sports analyst Matthew Berry in the Stamford-based studio. Co-host Jac Collinsworth and analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison will be on hand at Raymond James Stadium.
The Sunday Night Football production will be led by Coordinating Producer Rob Hyland and Director and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Drew Esocoff. Also onsite will be Sam Flood, executive producer/president, NBC Sports Production and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Fred Gaudelli, executive producer, NFL, NBC Sports. Football Night in America will be led by Coordinating Producer Matt Casey and Director Kaare Numme.
Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo Deportes will be on hand as well. Its SNF announce team comprises play-by-play announcer Miguel Gurwitz and analysts Rolando Cantu and Ariana Figuera. Figuera will also support pre/postgame studio programming.
Primetime’s No. 1 show for the 14th consecutive season, Sunday Night Football has earned the title by serving up marquee matchups and unforgettable moments. During the 2024 NFL regular season on NBC, numerous teams caught the attention of domestic fans, and an international game generated excitement abroad. These broadcasts relied on behind-the-scenes staff VP, Sunday Night Football Operations, Vinny Rao; Senior Director, Remote Tech Operations, Keith Kice; Senior Technical Manager and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer John Roché; Technical Manager Andrew Lawing; Production Manager Kristen Moorby; and many others. The crew will conclude their season with next week’s NFL Divisional Round.
“From the Friday-night special in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and games like a one-day set in Buffalo during a blizzard, Thanksgiving Week, and the Week 16 game in Kansas City to the first Madden NFL Cast, it was another great season,” says Goss. “The team always had our facilities ready to go, even on these challenging weeks.”
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