Well, not really, but after reading this long press release from ESPN, you think that’s what the network is staging for its programming from Indianapolis all next week for the Super Bowl.
Not only do you have the Mothership sending Chris Berman to cover his 30th Big Game plus a whole slew of analysts, but you have an outdoor set in downtown Indy situated near Lucas Oil Stadium where Super Bowl XLVI is being played, several ESPN talk shows like SportsNation originating from there, ESPN Radio shows like Mike and Mike will be live.
There’s a carnival act that will be on hand as well. That I’m not kidding about.
Check out the over 2,300-word press release from ESPN.
ESPN at Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis
110+ Hours of Television and Radio Programming
25+ On-air Commentators with 19 Super Bowl Rings
30th Super Bowl for Host Chris BermanESPN’s live coverage leading up to Super Bowl XLVI begins Monday, Jan. 30, at 6 a.m. ET from Pan American Plaza in Indianapolis and continues through Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5, when the New England Patriots face the New York Giants at Lucas Oil Stadium. Highlights:
- More than 110 hours of television and radio programming;
- More than 25 on-air commentators (hosts, analysts, reporters and contributors) on site in Indianapolis – in all, an analyst team of former players and coaches with a combined 19 Super Bowl rings in 29 appearances in the NFL’s biggest game;
- Content across 18 ESPN platforms: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Classic, ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, ESPNEWS HD, ESPN Deportes HD, ESPN International, ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNRadio.com, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPNdeportes.com, ESPN The Magazine, WatchESPN, and ESPN Mobile properties; and
- Super Bowl XLVI aired live in more than 68 million households in 162 countries and territories via ESPN International.
All shows originating from Pan Am Plaza will be available for free public viewing. The on-site operation includes:
- A 62-by-40-foot outdoor set, enclosed in glass and overlooking Lucas Oil Stadium;
- A 24-by-48-foot demo field;
- Aerial views via a “flycam” that spans 300 feet and is suspended 30 feet in the air;
- Two 16-by-9-foot LED screens for fan viewing of ESPN’s on-site programs; and
- Two pod camera locations at Pan Am Plaza that showcase the downtown skyline, Union Station and the stadium.
New in 2012:
- Themed SportsCenter Specials (M-F, 3-4 p.m., ESPN): Host Steve Levy and NFL Insiders John Clayton, Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter discuss the latest league news Monday and Tuesday; Mike Tirico, Trent Dilfer and Merril Hoge discuss safety and head injuries Wednesday; the Monday Night Football team of Tirico, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski preview the Super Bowl matchup Thursday; and, on Friday, ESPN’s Super Bowl champion analysts – Tedy Bruschi, Dilfer, Mike Ditka, Gruden, Keyshawn Johnson, Jerry Rice, Mark Schlereth and Steve Young – talk with Tirico about playing in the NFL’s title game.
- SC Special: NFL Face to Face with Hannah Storm (Tues., Jan. 31 at 9 p.m., ESPN2): ESPN’s Hannah Storm conducts one-on-one interviews in this one-hour special with some of the NFL season’s biggest newsmakers: Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton, Lions defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, and Colts owner Jim Irsay.
- Bill Parcells’ Super Bowl Confidential (Wed., Feb. 1, 7 p.m., ESPN): Two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Parcells discusses all facets of the Super Bowl with Tirico, drawing upon his more than 30 years of experience, including leading both the Giants (1986 and 1990) and Patriots (1996) to the Super Bowl, and his relationships with this year’s head coaches, Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick, both of whom he mentored when they served as assistant coaches on his teams.
- NFL32 (M-F, 6 p.m., ESPN2), which debuted in September, is a social media-driven NFL discussion show featuring host Suzy Kolber, NFL Insider Mortensen and a rotating cast of ESPN analysts and guests while engaging with fans via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
- NFL Kickoff (Friday, 7-9 p.m., ESPN2) with host Trey Wingo, and NFL analysts Bruschi and Schlereth. The show will cover team news, strategies, and injuries.
- NFL Live expanded to one hour this year (previously 30 minutes) and will air daily from Indianapolis during Super Bowl week with host Wingo, and a rotating cast of ESPN NFL analysts (M-F, 4-5 p.m., ESPN).
- SportsNation (M-F, 5-6 p.m., ESPN2) will originate from ESPN’s demo field with hosts Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd. Two acts that will be part of the show all week: the Blue Monkey Sideshow carnival act for SN’s ‘Halftime Show’ and Indy’s own “The Twin Cats” will be the show’s official house band.
Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5
- A special Sunday 6-10 a.m. edition of Mike & Mike from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios can be heard and/or watched on ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN2 (6-9 a.m.) and ESPNEWS (9-10 a.m.). The show will provide a comprehensive live game-day preview of the Super Bowl in addition to Mike & Mike’s best interviews from Super Bowl week in Indianapolis.
- Mike Tirico will host SportsCenter from Lucas Oil Stadium the morning of the Super Bowl (9-10 a.m., ESPN) with analysts Merril Hoge, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski.
- Covering his 30th Super Bowl, Chris Berman will host the special four-hour Super Bowl edition of Sunday NFL Countdown (10 a.m.–2 p.m.) from Pan Am Plaza with analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, and Keyshawn Johnson. The Monday Night Football team of Tirico, Gruden and Jaworski will join the crew from Lucas Oil Stadium, with Super Bowl champions Tedy Bruschi, Trent Dilfer, Jerry Rice and Steve Young. NFL Insiders Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter will also contribute reports.
- Reporters Rachel Nichols (covering the Giants) and Ed Werder (Patriots) will provide team updates.
- Postgame coverage on ESPN includes Berman, Jackson and Young on NFL Primetime (10:30-11:30 p.m.), followed by Stuart Scott, Steve Levy, Carter, Dilfer, and Johnson on SportsCenter (11:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m.).
ESPN Programming
Throughout Super Bowl week, a host of ESPN studio shows will originate from Pan Am Plaza in Indianapolis. The schedule:
Date Time (ET) Show Network Mon, Jan. 30 – Thurs, Feb. 2 6-10 a.m. Mike & Mike in the Morning ESPN Radio/ESPN2 9 a.m.-2 p.m. SportsCenter AM ESPN 10 a.m.-1 p.m. The Herd with Colin Cowherd ESPN Radio/ESPNEWS 1-4 p.m. Scott Van Pelt Show ESPN Radio/ESPNEWS 3-4 p.m. SportsCenter Special ESPN 4-5 p.m. NFL Live ESPN 5-6 p.m. SportsNation ESPN2 5-6 p.m. SportsCenter ESPN 6-7 p.m. NFL 32 ESPN2 8-9 p.m. ESPN International coverage 9-10 p.m. SportsCenter ESPN Fri, Feb. 3 6-10 a.m. Mike & Mike in the Morning ESPN Radio/ESPN2 9 a.m.-2 p.m. SportsCenter AM ESPN 10 a.m.-1 p.m. The Herd with Colin Cowherd ESPN Radio/ESPNEWS 1-2 p.m. NFL Semanal ESPN Deportes 1-4 p.m. Scott Van Pelt Show ESPN Radio/ESPNEWS 3-4 p.m. SportsCenter Special ESPN 4-5 p.m. NFL Live ESPN 5-6 p.m. SportsNation ESPN2 5-6 p.m. SportsCenter ESPN 6-7 p.m. NFL 32 ESPN2 7-9 p.m. NFL Kickoff ESPN2 10-11 p.m. SportsCenter ESPN Sat, Feb. 4 10-11 a.m. SportsCenter ESPN 1-2:30 p.m. ESPN International coverage 6-7 p.m. SportsCenter ESPN Sun, Feb. 5 9-10 a.m. SportsCenter ESPN 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday NFL Countdown ESPN 10:30-11:30 p.m. NFL Primetime ESPN 11:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. SportsCenter ESPN Note: Interview segments for First Take, Around the Horn, Pardon the Interruption and other ESPN programs will also originate from Indianapolis.
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio will air more than 50 hours of live programming from Indianapolis prior to Super Bowl XLVI.Super Bowl Week: Monday, Jan. 30-Friday, Feb. 3
ESPN Radio’s weekday Mike & Mike in the Morning (6-10 a.m.), The Herd with Colin Cowherd (10 a.m.-1 p.m.), The Scott Van Pelt Show (1-4 p.m.), and co-host Mark Schlereth’s half of Hill & Schlereth (7-10 p.m.), co-hosted by Mike Hill in Bristol, will originate from Indianapolis during Super Bowl week.Mike & Mike with co-hosts Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, and The Herd with Cowherd, will be open for public viewing at ESPN’s main set in Pan Am Plaza, surrounded by the NFL Super Bowl Village events. Van Pelt, with Ryen Russillo, and Schlereth, will broadcast their shows from the adjacent Pan Am Building. Mike & Mike is simulcast on ESPN2, while The Herd and Van Pelt are simulcast on ESPNEWS. All shows are streamed live on ESPN.com and available via ESPN Podcast.
Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5:
A special Sunday 6-10 a.m. edition of Mike & Mike from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios can be heard and/or watched on ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN2 (6-9 a.m.) and ESPNEWS (9-10 a.m.). The show will provide a comprehensive live game-day preview of the Super Bowl in addition to Mike & Mike’s best interviews from Super Bowl week in Indianapolis.ESPNRadio.com will carry ESPN Radio programming live.
ESPN.com
ESPN.com will provide complete reporting and analysis of the game, teams, players, coaches and the entire Super Bowl scene from Indianapolis on Page 1 and the main NFL page, as well as on the 2012 edition of Super Bowl Central. ESPN.com will also present chats with ESPN.com writers and others, as well as video reports throughout the week.ESPN’s roster of journalists will be on hand, including senior NFL writer John Clayton, as well as Adam Schefter, Ashley Fox, Elizabeth Merrill, the NFL Blog Network and Scouts Inc. They will provide insight, commentary, breaking news and analysis of all facets of the Super Bowl XLVI matchup. Other highlights:
- NFL Any Era team: ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine put together a 20-member panel of Pro Football Hall of Famers to select an NFL Any Era team — current players who the stars of yesterday most admire for their toughness, grit and skill. ESPN.com will reveal four players a day, culminating with the final four on Friday, Jan. 27. The presentation includes a video roundtable with Hall of Famers Mike Ditka, John Randle and James Lofton, as well as a video interview with the No. 1 player;
- Interactive presentation Inside a Moment in Time takes readers inside John Elway’s famous “Helicopter Run” in Super Bowl XXXII against the Packers. The presentation has video interviews with Elway, Rod Smith, Eugene Robinson and more;
- Road to Indy blog: reports from ESPN.com’s blog network;
- Complete coverage of Media Day, where users can interact with bloggers on the scene;
- Super Bowl rings presentation highlighting one player from each of the 45 teams who have earned Super Bowl rings; and
- In-depth analysis, scouting reports and rankings of all 106 players on the Super Bowl rosters from Scouts Inc.
ESPN Mobile will provide fans on-the-go with alerts, updates and news throughout the game. Additionally, fans can access the latest action through the ESPN mobile Web site and up-to-the-minute scores via the ESPN ScoreCenter mobile app.
ESPN International
ESPN International will air Super Bowl XLVI live to more than 68 million households in 162 countries and territories throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Brazil, Africa, the Middle East, Israel, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Pacific Rim, and much of Europe. Commentary and analysis will be provided in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. Highlights:
- The game will be seen in HD in Australia, Latin America, Brazil and the Caribbean;
- ESPN International’s SportsCenter production team will report throughout the week to Latin America and throughout the Pacific Rim;
- ESPN Latin America will also air daily editions of NFL Semanal;
- ESPN Brazil will air live the pre-game Abre o Jogo Super Bowl XLVI directly from Lucas Oil Stadium, along with a dedicated live Twittcam @espnagora behind the scenes and commentary from on-air duo Everaldo Marques and Paulo Antunes;
- Live coverage on Super Bowl Sunday in Latin America will begin at 3 p.m. with an extended pregame: NFL Esta Noche: Previo Super Bowl XLVI EN VIVO, followed by the telecast of Super Bowl XLVI at 6 p.m.; and
- Spanish-language Emmy nominee and play-by-play announcer Álvaro Martín, analyst and former New York Giants Super Bowl-winning kicker Raúl Allegre, NFL Esta Noche hosts Eduardo Varela and Pablo Viruega, and reporters John Sutcliffe, Goga Ruiz and Ciro Procuna will report daily on Spanish-language editions of SportsCenter, Radio Formula, Nacion ESPN and Los Capitanes.
ESPN DEPORTES
ESPN Deportes will offer the most comprehensive coverage of Super Bowl XLVI on Spanish-language television in the U.S. The network will have a team of reporters and commentators in Indianapolis all week for nightly segments on SportsCenter and live feeds during Los Capitanes and Nación ESPN. Additionally, ESPN’s signature Spanish-language NFL news and analysis program, NFL Esta Noche, will air a special Saturday edition from Indianapolis with hosts Allegre, Martín, Procuna and Sutcliffe.ESPN Deportes Radio, the only around-the-clock national Spanish-language sports radio network in the U.S., will provide Super Bowl reporting beginning Sunday, January 29. It will be heard during the regularly scheduled weekday programs ESPN Al Despertar, Zona ESPN and two special editions of the NFL show El Ultimo Pase.
ESPNdeportes.com, the Spanish-language Web site, will provide complete reporting and highlights from Indianapolis all week, including daily Cover It Live chats with ESPN Deportes’ on-site commentators, including Álvaro Martin, Raúl Allegre, Lalo Varela, Ciro Procuna and John Sutcliffe.
Spanish-language fans can also follow the action via social media on the network’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Extensive coverage of Super Bowl week will also include fan polls, blogs, video reports, chats and exclusive video.
espnW
Kate Fagan will report daily from the Super Bowl for espnW.com starting Monday, Jan. 30. She will cover a variety of topics including Media Day and will preview Madonna’s much anticipated halftime show.*All times ET unless otherwise noted.
And next, we have another over 3,000-word press release from NFL Network on its plans for next week. Keep it here.
