Super Bowl LVI: Gaudelli, Esocoff Focus on Storytelling for Their Seventh Super Bowl A wealth of tech, including AR, and ideal weather promise a defining story to tell By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, February 10, 2022 - 10:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
When NBC Sports Sunday Night Football director Drew Esocoff and producer Fred Gaudelli settle into the front bench of NEP ND1 A unit for Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, it will mark the seventh time they have led the production of a Super Bowl. That's more than 10% of every Super Bowl ever played. Needless to say, they have good understanding of what their role is and how to get the job done.
When Drew and I do the Super Bowl, says Gaudelli, we just try to have all the angles that will provide answers to questions like, Were his feet inbounds? Was his knee down before the ball came out? [The kind of questions] that coaches need answers to to challenge or that replay needs answers to to stop the game and review.
The Super Bowl has always been the kind of production that demands more, and Gaudelli says he and Esocoff will have about 40 cameras to work with for actual game coverage. That includes two goal-line systems, two sideline systems, two over the end zone systems, and six 4K cameras for zoom extraction - all provided by Fletcher.
Obviously, all those cameras will be recorded and able to use for replay, he says. We'll also be debuting a brand-new graphic look, a new scorebug, a lot of virtual reality and augmented reality.
Sunday Night Football producer Fred Gaudelli says Super Bowl LVI coverage will feature 40 cameras, new graphics, and a lot of virtual reality and augmented reality. (Photo: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)
Gaudelli notes that this is the fifth Super Bowl for NBC since the Sunday Night Football package was acquired. It also marks the 20th for NBC Sports.
We've had four beauties leading into this, and we're hoping Sunday will make it a fifth, he says. Either [our play-by-play broadcaster] Al Michaels or the L.A. Chamber of Commerce dialed up a week of weather that is going to be unbelievable out here. It will be ideal playing conditions on Sunday, so we're just excited for a great game.
Adds Esocoff, I'm just happy to be here for our seventh Super Bowl that Freddie and I are doing together. It's a great honor. I think we have a great plan. It's a great venue. It's an event with tremendous scope and great athleticism. We hope to cover both.
Esocoff, Gaudelli, and the NBC Sports production team will do some testing of a Steadicam rig outfitted with AR capabilities.
We have a virtual configuration on several other cameras throughout the course of the year, says Esocoff. We have a very experienced Steadicam operator doing these kinds of things, and it's going to be something that we'll play with during the course of the week. If it makes things better, we'll use it. If things are better the way we've been doing it, we'll stick with that. These things are enhancements to the show. We're not going to let it drive the broadcast.
Sunday Night Football director Drew Esocoff hopes to use a Steadicam with AR for NBC Sports' coverage of Super Bowl LVI.
The biggest trick Esocoff has found doing Super Bowls or any event of that magnitude is, the more you can stick with what got you where you are, the better off you are.
It's cool to have all these new gadgets, he says, and we'll work them in when applicable and if it makes things better. In the case of virtual graphics off the Steadicam, I think it will make certain things better, and I hope to be able to work that into the telecast.
He echoes Gaudelli's thoughts on the real goal of all the cameras: Most of those cameras are there to get better looks or more-intimate looks than some traditional angles and, like Fred said, to make sure we have defining looks of critical plays throughout the game.
In a year when the NFL saw ratings gains overall and had arguably the best couple of weeks of playoff football leading up to the big game, Michaels, calling his 11th, says he is amazed sitting there and watching how beautiful the game looks, how fantastically well it's televised.
Drew Esocoff doesn't do take 20; you get one take, he says. We all live in this adrenaline world, where you want to be perfect, and we're always trying to pitch the perfect game, but the pictures are just so beautiful, and the drama [With] what we've seen over the past six playoff games, you want to do a movie. You can't write movies like that, and people know that. They're watching it live, and it's breathtaking in a way.
I think a lot of factors go into it, Michaels continues. I think you go back to the fact that football is the perfect television sport. Four or five seconds of action or less, and then maybe 30 seconds of perhaps inaction unless a team is playing hurry-up, and then replays, and every angle you possibly want. The way football is televised these days, after all these years, I'm still amazed.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Super Bowl LVI: Gaudelli, Esocoff Focus on Storytelling for Their Seventh Super Bowl A wealth of tech, including AR, and ideal weather promise a defining story to tell By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
