On the Gridiron: Inside an NFL Franchise's Game Day Production in 2020 Crews are juggling a lot of responsibilities and challenges this year By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Thursday, October 15, 2020 - 10:30 am
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Years from now when the NFL looks back at the 2020 season in the history books, readers will be astonished by the laundry list of logistical obstacles that in-venue professionals had to overcome. In a non-bubble environment, crews have flipped the switch to overdrive to bring at-home and a small number of in-person fans a semi-normal experience. SVG's On the Gridiron Series takes you behind the scenes to learn the production workflows of various organizations.
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Out of the Gate: Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jags Begin Season With Limited Attendees The Chiefs and the NBC broadcast team adjusted their script to fit in the moment of unity after the national anthem.
Over a month ago on Thursday, Sept. 10, there were still a boatload of unknowns at the beginning of the season. Although there was a certainty that a larger percentage of the NFL stadiums would play Week 1 without fans, there were still two teams that decided to host fans for their home openers: the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In the case of the defending Super Bowl champions, the Chiefs pushed to have fans in seats to display the pageantry and festivities that comes with their 2019 accomplishment. While the pregame celebration was high on their to-do list, the impromptu plan by Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson to display a sign of unity before the game caused for last-minute changes to run of show.
We ended up changing all of our timing for the pregame, says Kristen Pugh, manager of game and event entertainment, Kansas City Chiefs. We also had to meet with [SNF Executive Producer] Fred Gaudelli and with people from the league after our rehearsal on Wednesday. It turned out beautifully, and I wouldn't have wanted to work so hard and put in the extra time, effort, and energy that it took to make that happen [with any other team]. Most of the shots that were seen on the broadcast were seen in the stadium because we worked so closely with Fred to make sure that we were streaming at the same time and were connected on timing.
Down in Florida, the Jaguars weren't celebrating a victory in last year's championship game, but they did have to sidestep a handful of hurdles on that Sunday afternoon. Prior to the first game, Production Manager Carlos Caceres and his colleagues did multiple sound checks and other tests in TIAA Bank Field
One of the franchise's most successful live streams, the player-organized Black Lives Matter march was viewed on the Jaguars' social-media feeds.
While we were waiting for some direction, we bought some decibel meters and coordinated with our events team, football operations, and myself in the booth to play the soundtrack out into the bowl, he says. We were walking around and getting different readings on the main concourse, field level, pool deck, etc., and before the league mandated [crowd noise], we got to an internal agreement.
Similar to the Chiefs, the Jaguars also participated in gesture that supported social justice reform. Albeit conducted during the summer, adjustments made on the fly made this demonstration one of the highest performed live stream ever.
It was a really cool experience and that's something that the organization supports, continues Caceres. Our routine conversations revolve around building diversity, inclusion, community outreach, activism, voting, and social justice. I've been here since 2009 and I don't think we've ever done anything like that. Hopefully, we continue to do more of that.
In-Venue Sound: League Continues to Find the Audio Sweet Spot Campbell and his team are getting used to producing an in-venue show without fans.
Caceres and the team with the Jaguars aren't the only individuals who have continued to tinker with the fabricated audio being played in the stadium. Clubs in Major League Baseball were the first to experiment with fake crowd noise over their own sound system, so in an effort to keep the game feel as authentic as possible, NFL Films has supplied control rooms with a dynamic and curated audio track with team-specific chants, cheers, and more.
One of the new options to play is booing or miscellaneous sounds of disapproval. During the initial slate of games, the New Orleans Saints went viral when their audio operator played noise that reacted negatively toward a penalty called against the defense.
[Saints cornerback] Marshon Lattimore and [Buccaneers wide receiver] Mike Ev
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On the Gridiron: Inside an NFL Franchise's Game Day Production in 2020 Crews are juggling a lot of responsibilities and challenges this year By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
