Live From Super Bowl LIX: Fox Sports' Rod Conti on How Fox Sports Will Turn Bourbon Street into a Super Bowl Pre-Game Studio By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, February 7, 2025 - 6:39 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Over the years Rod Conti, Fox Sports, VP of Remote Studio Operations, and Fox Sports have tackled some pretty challenging locations in an attempt to find the perfect studio location for big events like a World Cup or a Super Bowl. Each required some out-of-the-box thinking but nothing has compared to what Conti and the team have pulled off for Super Bowl LIX: getting a studio show on Bourbon Street. Not only is it only 21-feet wide but Fox had to ensure that the sidewalks would be clear and things like deliveries and street cleaning could proceed as normal.
Rod Conti at one end of Fox Sports' Super Bowl Boulevard on Bourbon Street.
We knew those complications between street cleaning and all the dynamics and deliveries that happen in this small quarter that make this near impossible, he says. And when we found out this hasn't been done before the team got excited and we put our challenge hat on and said, let's figure this out.'
Yes, as crazy as it sounds there has never been a pre-game show done on Bourbon Street. As iconic as it is, it poses a number of challenges that have made it impossible, until now. First, the narrow streets prevent parking a 53-foot production truck for a number of days. And Bourbon Street is, after all, a street that has to be open to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic so shutting it down for a week or two to build a set is a non-starter.
The desk was the easy part as the challenge is Bourbon Street is a moving ecosystem and one needs to be sensitive to pedestrian flow and vehicle traffic has to have a way to deliver to the bars and restaurants, says Conti. There's this ebb and flow and if you cut off one artery here, it affects the whole quarter.
Being on Bourbon Street means that the effort has to be almost stealth in nature, with minimal rehearsal and set-up time. So, for the Fox Sports team that means one day of rehearsal and a super-quick set up in the wee hours of the morning.
Having a Super Bowl show with one day of rehearsals is hard and nerve wracking, says Conti. Our guys really won't see this a 100% built until Sunday morning. So, we really have one day to set that up; to bring the float and carpet in, build the scenics and build the lighting.
What is in store for Super Bowl viewers this Sunday when they tune in for the pre-game show beginning at 12 pm local time? A studio show that will take place on top of a float built by Kern, the legendary float maker for Mardi Gras parades. The float will be home to the studio desk and will be located in the intersection of Bourbon and St. Peter Streets and nestled between two bars that are serving as production and technical support spaces (the show's production control room will be in Game Creek Video Prime One which is parked at the Superdome compound).
Getting to that point begins the day before with a rehearsal on Saturday. Then at 4 am on Sunday morning the float rolls into place, a massive purple carpet will be unrolled down Bourbon Street from Toulouse Street to Orleans Street, a demo field will be installed on Bourbon Street, the FlyCam which runs from Toulouse to Orleans will be ready to go. All video and audio signals will be managed upstairs in the Krazy Korner bar before being sent to a production truck at the Fox compound at the Superdome. Also, no cameras will be located on the float. Instead, all cameras will be located in the intersection of Bourbon and St. Peter with additional coverage coming from the 40-foot Scorpion crane, the FlyCam, a robotic mounted on the second floor of a building on Mason Street. Drones from Beverly Hills Aerial will complete the coverage.
Greg Pfeifer, Fox Sports, director, remote studio engineering (left) and Rob Mikulicka, Fox Sports, director of operations, remote studio, on the balcony of Krazy Korner on Bourbon Street.
When the Pre-Game show starts at 12 pm local time it promises to capture the true unique heart of a city that has been through so much recently and in times past but always knows how to celebrate even in the darkest of times.
While the plans and tone of coverage from Bourbon Street has changed in the wake of the terrorist attack on New Year's Day, Conti says the original goal, to make it very clear to viewers at home that the show was in the middle of Bourbon Street, remained. Symbolizing New Orleans resiliency.
Conti says everyone expects big crowds on Sunday and with Fox having access to not only the street but the balconies it promises to be an exciting production. And, ultimately, a tribute to all of those working on the show but also to the 14 people who lost their lives, and the 57 others injured during the terrorist attack on the early morning of New Year's Day.
After that happened people from the city came to us and said we're going to help you pull this off, says Conti. This is a resilient city and this city bounces back. And this is also a city of hospitality and a city of known for good cheer and celebration. More than ever, it needs to be reminded that terror is not going to erupt the heartbeat of this city and we've all been empowered to bring this to this city and have a celebration right in the heart blocks away from where the tragic event happened. And we're proud to be the lucky steward to do that.
A Week-long Presence
Historically Super Bowl Sunday sets have been in use for most of the week prior to the big game. And while this set will only be active on Super Bowl Sunday that hasn't stopped the Fox Sports family of networks and content creators from producing shows on Bourbon Street.
In order
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
08/10/2026
Modern venues have come a long way since the tinny, echoing audio of the mid 20t...
08/10/2026
ESPN's first Super Bowl production will stream in English and Spanish on Disney+, while the ESPN App carries the full slate of game, ManningCast, studio, an...
08/10/2026
From high-school videoboards to War Eagle Productions, the Opelika native is learning how to lead shows and capture big moments
The future of live sports produ...
08/10/2026
The Television Academy and Prime Video have announced a six-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive global home of the Emmy Awards beginning with the 20...
08/10/2026
Techex will exhibit at NAB Show New York 2026 (Booth 623, Javits Center, October...
08/10/2026
X Games has announced the appointment of Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer. Rogers previously served as COO of World Supercross and spent nearly a decade ...
08/10/2026
Fonn Group has appointed Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Spielmann joins from EVS, where he held sales and business de...
08/10/2026
The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms
Perfect Game is bringin...
08/10/2026
Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. More often, it happens at the point of collision: when worlds that have run on separate tracks begin to converge. That is...
08/10/2026
For decades, the production and broadcast services business has run on a familia...
08/10/2026
Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley have published The IP Converg...
08/10/2026
The NFL has announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league's analytics competition, now in its ninth year and again powered by AWS. Registration is o...
08/10/2026
Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with T l diffusion d'Alg rie (TDA), Algeria's national broadcasting network operator, for continued distribution of...
08/10/2026
Disney will livestream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, alongside the game's broadcast on ESPN and ABC. All Disney subscribers in the United States wi...
08/10/2026
RHStv and Red House Streaming have announced an expansion of their partnership w...
08/10/2026
Gray Media has announced a distribution agreement with TEGNA and DAZN to simulca...
08/10/2026
SVG readers can save 10% on registration and receive a complimentary Solutions H...
08/10/2026
PROTON Camera Innovations GmbH has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology a...
08/10/2026
Industry leaders discuss real-world cloud workflows for live game production, pl...
08/10/2026
The next-gen audio technology joins Dolby Vision as part of Apple TV's immersive F1 experience...
08/10/2026
David France, Jesse Short Bull, Mato Wayuhi, N. Bird Runningwater, Jodi Archambau, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Amber Morning Star Byars, Holly Macarro, Nick Tils...
08/10/2026
Dynamic panning plug-ins get an upgrade
Sound Particles have just announced major updates for two of their popular dynamic panning plug-ins. Energy Panner 2...
08/10/2026
New expandable instrument boasts full DMNO engine
UDO Audio have just announced the upcoming release of a new, expandable synth that packs the power of the ...
08/10/2026
Two new subwoofers added to monitoring line-up
ADAM Audio's monitoring range has just been expanded with two new DSP-equipped subwoofers, the Sub8 PRO a...
08/10/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
08/10/2026
Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show New York We're looking forward to meeting up with you all at NAB New York on 21st-22nd October.
Cal...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will showcase its next generation of media orchestration services at NAB S...
08/10/2026
Clear-Com played a critical role in the production communications infrastructure for Rock in Rio 2026, one of the world's largest and most recognized music...
08/10/2026
Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Crea...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Ikegami announces a major expansion to its range of broadcast-quality live production cameras. Scheduled for introduction on Ikegami booth 708 at NAB New York, ...
08/10/2026
Calrec will be located at Booth 444.
Freedom to choose
The media landscape is evolving quickly, and the broadcasters best placed for what comes next will be...
08/10/2026
LiveU has announced that CRD Audiovisuel relied on LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit, with built-in native LiveU IQ (LIQ ) connectivity, to deliver live...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Marshall Electronics, a globally recognized provider of high-performance video solutions for broadcast, streaming, AV and professional production, will exhibit ...
08/10/2026
14-hour package also includes A Remarkable Place to Die season 2 as well as libr...
Live From Super Bowl LIX: Fox Sports' Rod Conti on How Fox Sports Will Turn Bourbon Street into a Super Bowl Pre-Game Studio By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
