Fred Gaudelli served as lead producer for seven Super Bowl telecasts. If you like Roman numerals, Gaudily has produced Super Bowls XXXVII, XL, XLIII, XLVI, XLIX, LII and LVI. He was involved in the production of some of the most thrilling NFL championship games in history, including Super Bowl XLIX in 2015, in which New England Patriots rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted Seattle Seahawks at the goal line. Eagles quarterback Russell Wilson with 20 seconds left. New England came back to beat the Sonics 28-24. That game averaged 114.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl game in U.S. television history before last year’s Super Bowl victory.
During 33 seasons as the lead producer of the NFL’s primetime television games, which included broadcasts on ABC, ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime Video, Gaudry produced countless NFL games with celebrities in the stands. If he was making the game, how would he feel about the prospect of Taylor Swift playing in Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas on February 11?
“I think it’s a gift from God,” Gaudry said.
Gaudre lives on Earth and knows that Swift has become embedded in pop culture, which means the product has the potential to attract even more eyeballs. (If you hate Swift, this post is going to be a brutal summer for you, and it’s best to quit now.)
If Swift can be there to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers, CBS Sports Sports)’s Super Bowl 58 production team faced the challenge of incorporating the singer’s imagery into the show. broadcast.
The good news for the crew, led by producer Jim Rikhoff, director Mike Arnold, and recap producer Ryan Galvin, is that they’re working on this year’s The Chiefs have brought a lot of great games, including the divisional round in Buffalo and the AFC Championship Game in Baltimore, both of which were Chiefs games. Swift participated. It would be an editorial remiss not to feature Swift during the competition, but at the same time, how much did you show her?
Then a new question arises: How much of an impact did the Super Bowl play have on your decision to showcase her?
“Let’s go back to the last Super Bowl I played in,” Gaudry said of the Los Angeles Rams’ victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on February 13, 2022. “We have (Rams quarterback) Matthew Stafford, his wife and kids. We have (Bengals quarterback) Joe Burrow’s parents and girlfriend. We have (Rams wide receiver) Hand) Cooper Kupp’s wife. We have (Rams offensive lineman) Andrew Whitworth’s wife and kids. We have (Bengals wide receiver) Jamal Chase’s mom and dad. The reason you These shots are set up because they are part of the game’s story and are watched by five times as many people as a regular game. You immediately think of who is watching the game, and in Los Angeles we have celebrities like LeBron James and Jay-Z. (Director) Drew Esocoff edited the footage during the game. So when Stafford threw the touchdown pass, there was footage of Stafford’s wife. Bro Lying on the ground rolling in pain? You see the concerned expressions on his mom, dad and his girlfriend’s faces.
“Now with Taylor, she’s also someone who has a direct connection to the sport because she’s the significant other to one of the stars of the team. Maybe you’re not going to show her in every scene with Kelce, But when he performs, she will be part of the shot.”
So far, Swift’s playing time in NFL games has been far less than some might have imagined. New York Times writer Benjamin Hoffman wrote a great piece this week documenting “the inconsistency between the number of times Swift has been shown and the number of times people seem to think she has been shown.” According to his reports, Swift was on screen for less than 32 seconds in most games, with the highest being 1 minute and 16 seconds during Peacock’s coverage of the Chiefs’ game against the Miami Dolphins on January 13.
“You can’t help but have her on the air,” said Tracy Wolfson, who will be on the sideline at the Chiefs’ Super Bowl game. “I can’t tell you how many fathers have come to me and said, ‘My daughter only watches football now because of Taylor Swift.'” I mean, why not capitalize on it or take advantage of it? That’s great for the NFL and for ratings. “
Fox’s Sept. 24 game between the Chiefs and the Chicago Bears set the template for Swift’s coverage, as the network had to figure everything out on the fly. Lead producer Richie Zyontz said his team has received no official word from the NFL or the Chiefs that Swift will attend. (That changed in later weeks; Rickhoff knew Swift would be there the night before the Chiefs-Bills game.) They had to figure out which camera operator would be used for the shoot and how many people to use.
“We were the first ones to deal with this situation, and we were in uncharted waters,” Zyontz said this week, reflecting on that game. “I immediately thought of moderation. There were so many knee-jerk reaction shots as the season progressed, but they were talked about and reported on Monday. For the Super Bowl, there will be millions of new viewers because of her. Hopefully Good judgment can prevail. But for those who complain, come on, a few seconds at a time, a few times a game. Is it really too much?”
“You can’t help but have her on the air,” Tracy Wolfson said of Taylor Swift, who will play Chiefs on CBS’ Super Bowl side work. (Jason Hanna/Getty Images)
The Super Bowl will be very different. If Swift plays in the game, the Chiefs and the NFL will know which suite at the stadium Swift will sit in. So CBS broadcast production won’t have any problem finding her. CBS will make a request to interview the singer. (If anyone was betting that Swift would be interviewed on camera, I’d bet not.) Gaudry said the best shot of the production would be through the Chiefs, who would relay the request to her through Kelce. You can also ask her if she wants to do something off-camera.
“We didn’t make the request during the season because we didn’t think the situation had risen to that level yet,” said Gaudry, who now serves as executive producer of NBC’s NFL coverage. “But, yeah, I think you put it in the Super Bowl. You’re going to try to get her on the pregame show.”
Expect some guaranteed visuals after the game. If the Chiefs win, there will certainly be CBS cameramen following Kelce.
“As a producer and director, he’s one of the main guys you want to see at the end of the game because if they win, he’s a big part of his dynasty,” Gaudry said. “So where he is, there she will be. You don’t really have to go very far to hunt. You’re looking for No. 87.”
Watching it all with interest was CBS broadcaster Ian Eagle, the first NFL national broadcaster to acknowledge the relationship between Swift and Kelce. On Sept. 17, the Eagles shamelessly threw for a touchdown when Kelce scored in Kansas City’s 17-9 win over Jacksonville. “Kyles found a gap for the score” linereferencing the Swift song title.
“Kyles found a gap in the score.”
Ian Eagle sneaks a mention on Travis Kelce touchdown 👀
🎥 @NFLpic.twitter.com/pQNiqZdh88
— The Athlete (@TheAthletic) September 17, 2023
“Back in September, there were some stories linking Travis to Taylor, but they didn’t get major coverage at the time,” Eagle said. “When Kelce scored the touchdown in Jacksonville, I jokingly said, ‘He found a gap for the score.’ I thought it was a cute throwaway line, but I didn’t expect it to explode. I learned quickly. Swift’s power, and interest grew exponentially a few months later with the Chiefs running. The NFL was already huge. But this relationship somehow brought even more attention to the league. I’m so happy for these two crazy kids.”
deeper
How Taylor Swift went from Eras tour to Super Bowl
(Top photo of Taylor Swift and her boyfriend: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
