Front Row knows you have better things to do all weekend than check your social media feeds, so we do it for you.
Here, from the ESPN PR universe, are some of the Tweets, posts and other commentary you may have missed.
You can thank us later!
Tagged: ‘Super Bowl XLVI’
posted by Gabriela Nunez on February 5, 2012 9:19 AM
ESPN International sports NFL vets in Super Bowl XLVI coverage
INDIANAPOLIS — The NFL and Super Bowl fan base continues to grow rapidly outside the United States, and so does ESPN International’s presence in our comprehensive coverage during the week.
In the videos above and below, our International talent hailing from Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Bristol, Conn. reflect on how they’re presenting Super Bowl XLVI from Lucas Oil Stadium.
Current Dallas Cowboys punter Mat McBriar is pictured above right with ESPN Australia SportsCenter anchor Jason Bennett. McBriar is a two-time Pro Bowl punter who hails from Melbourne, Australia. He and Bennett have provided information and analysis not only for ESPN Australia viewers but for those watching in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In the video below, meet former NFL placekicker Raul Allegre. The ESPN Deportes NFL analyst won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants (1986 and 1990) and also played for the Indianapolis Colts in the 1980s.
After Allegre, meet journalist Andre Kfouri and Everaldo Marques as they reflect on the growing interest in the NFL in Brazil. Marques and Paulo Antunes will provide the play-by-play and analysis for ESPN in Brazil viewers.
This year, 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.
posted by Carrie Kreiswirth on February 4, 2012 9:30 AM
The stars were shining for
ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT Event
INDIANAPOLIS –ESPN The Magazine held its eighth annual “NEXT” event Friday in a downtown warehouse space that welcomed about 2,000 guests including athletes, celebrities, and industry VIPs.
Featured guests who lit up the star-studded carpet included Shaquille O’Neal, Drew Brees, Hope Solo, Blake Shelton, Spike Lee, JR Martinez, Tim Tebow, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, and a special appearance by the “NEXT” Issue cover athlete, Cam Newton, just to name a few.
The Mag’s private event also featured a special performance by multi-platinum Grammy nominated artist, Drake, with music by DJ D-Nice. Past performances include: Kid Rock, Rev Run, Ne-Yo, Keri Hilson, Wyclef Jean, LL Cool J, Ludacris and Ciara.
This year’s “NEXT” event had a modern, industrial feel with pops of color throughout the space as well as customized areas designed to incorporate visual content from ESPN The Magazine’s “NEXT” issue, which recognizes an elite group of emerging athletes to watch in the year ahead.
ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT Event is not just a party: It is a platform, a culture, and an experience.
The premise behind The Magazine’s NEXT issue focuses on looking toward the future and continuing to be at the forefront of sports, and NEXT is no exception. Starting the weekend with an unprecedented VIP event, ESPN The Magazine creates a unique experience to kick off Super Bowl weekend.
Also featured for the very first time was a one-of-a-kind social media studio where ESPN talent Marcellus Wiley and Charissa Thompson took over the Magazine’s Twitter handle (@ESPNMag) and #NEXT, engaging with event guests both in person and via Twitter. continue reading…
posted by Allie Stoneberg on February 3, 2012 7:04 AM
ESPN’s Talent Producers coordinate Super Bowl’s galaxy of guest stars
INDIANAPOLIS — Throughout Super Bowl week, ESPN Talent Producers Jason Romano and Audrah Cates, along with ESPN Radio Talent Producer Shaun Wyman, have been busy planning for a host of live shows that originate from Pan Am Plaza.
When you see the quarterback of your fantasy team break down film with ESPN analysts on NFL32, our Talent Producers set it up.
When you hear your favorite player call in to Mike & Mike In The Morning to discuss the team’s recent victory, our Talent Producers set it up.
And when you gain new perspective watching NFL guest analysts on SportsNation . . . you guessed it.
They readily admit their job involves long hours and hectic days — their phones close at hand to coordinate show schedules with athletes and their agents — and then smile and say this is how they prefer it.
Proud to be a part of ESPN’s Super Bowl XLVI team, Romano and Cates took Front Row behind the scenes for a look at how they make it happen.
posted by Mac Nwulu on February 2, 2012 3:27 PM
Fast Break: Rachel Nichols at SB XLVI
Rachel Nichols with New York Giants linebacker Mark Herzlich.
INDIANAPOLIS — In her role covering the New York Giants, reporter Rachel Nichols has been an invaluable asset to fans who turn to ESPN for news and information about Super Bowl XLVI.
Based at ESPN’s New York City bureau, Nichols has been mostly assigned to New York’s NFL teams and in the postseason, she has focused on the Giants.
“Because we serve a primarily sports-savvy audience, our reporters must be curious enough and adept at uncovering good stories,” said ESPN NFL senior coordinating producer Seth Markman.
“Rachel and Ed [Werder, covering the New England Patriots] are two of the best at digging for and telling multiple stories to keep our viewers informed.”
Nichols, a former South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Washington Post reporter, reports regularly on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, NFL and NBA studio programming and other shows.
She is one of five lead correspondents on E:60, ESPN’s award-winning and critically acclaimed newsmagazine. This season, she was added to the regular rotation of Monday Night Football sideline reporters.
ESPN Front Row caught up with Nichols Thursday, and she shared some insight on her role covering the Giants at Super Bowl XLVI.
Her thoughts:
On a typical day (Wednesday) at Super Bowl XLVI Week
Nichols: The days get pretty busy here because we’re trying to provide information for a lot of different arms of ESPN — plus mix in some fun stuff with some more long-range storytelling as well.
I’ll give you my day on Wednesday: I started at the Giants media availability, where I was trying to gather information for the day’s reports on ESPN, as well as some information that we’ll use over the weekend, when the teams have no more official media access. It got a little hectic at the end of the hour, because Osi Umenyiora did not show up for his scheduled session. It’s my job to find out why: Was he sick? Hurt? Did he just oversleep or decide not to come?
In asking around about what might be wrong with Osi, one of the Giants’ coaches ended up telling me a different player on the team, Jimmy Kennedy, had, in fact, been sick, so I scrambled to report that. The day before, the Patriots had been struck by a flu bug, with several players falling ill, so any sickness anywhere was being taken pretty seriously. We did a live shot with the 12-3 p.m. SportsCenter, and then taped a segment that could run through the rest of the early afternoon.
By 4 p.m. ET, I was on the NFL Live set, first to give a report on the Giants defensive gameplan against Tom Brady, then to do a second segment talking zip line. I had an hour-long break before the next live shot, so I went up into the office and recorded some voice tracks for a feature piece on Justin Tuck that will run on Super Bowl Sunday. It’s a pretty touching story about how Tuck became close with a young fan and his family — that kind of thing takes you out of the X-and-O mindset for a little.
But as soon as that was done, I had to switch gears again to talk more football. I did a live-shot for NFL 32, talking about the Giants’ afternoon practice. Then, I did another but similar live-shot for the 6 p.m. ET SportsCenter.
Finally, around 7:30 p.m., we put together two reports for the 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. ET editions of SportsCenter.
Once they were taped, we were wrapped for the day, although if any news on the Giants broke through the evening, I was on-call for that, too.
posted by Dan Quinn on February 2, 2012 11:00 AM
‘Gronktastic’ ways to expand your vocabulary, courtesy of The Herd
Since you’re reading FrontRow.com, you wanted some “Gronkformation” about ESPN.
That’s what folks at ESPN Radio’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd would say as they attempt to use Super Bowl week’s most popular new term in a variety of ways.
New England Patriots 6-foot-6, 265-pound tight end Rob Gronkowski has been the center of attention in Indianapolis.
His left ankle injury has attracted so much media focus that — as ESPN.com’s Ashley Fox notes — New York Giants defensive end Dave Tollefson suggested it get its own Twitter account: @Gronksankle.
The Herd producer Vince Kates, in Indy for Super Bowl XLVI, noticed the mania for all things Gronk.
“The term ‘Gronk’ has been thrown around so much this week — and it just came out of where — so we decided on some different uses for it,” Kates says.
That led to a bit during Wednesday’s Herd (10 a.m.-1 p.m. ET M-F, ESPN Radio, ESPNews) that probably had Noah Webster rolling over in his grave.
Host Cowherd would present a definition and Jim Cutler, the invaluable show contributor Kates calls “our voice guy,” would announce the word as only he can.
Colin would say, “You’re about to go out with your wife, and she looks smoking hot, she would look. . .”
“Gronkolicious,” Cutler would finish.
Another example: “You and the boys and going out and go clubbing a little bit, you’d say. .. ”
“Let’s get Gronked.”
“We send liners to Jim every morning for in-show teases, and Wednesday we sent him a bit of a curveball with some funny stuff,” Kates says.
“He’s always a good sport and knocks them out for us. The last time he did something for us like this, it was our new names for a Los Angeles NFL team — we had names like the LA Entourage, the LA Quakes, and the LA Blow.”
Cowherd says: “I like doing this kind of thing, especially in a week where we’ve got one main story to deal with. Finding the little things and getting the most out of them is what we like doing in The Herd.”
Gronkowski visited ESPN in August with his fellow NFL veteran brothers Chris and Dan for a Bristol Car Wash. Check out this Front Row piece and their ad libbed photo.
Gronkowski’s oddball personality and record-setting season as a high-scoring Tom Brady target has spawned all sorts of tributes.
Check out the myriad of impressions his Patriots teammates offered on Media Day in the video below.
posted by David Scott on January 30, 2012 4:00 PM
Front & Center: Beat reporters
Mike Reiss and Ohm Youngmisuk
One example of the sites' collaborative Super Bowl efforts, the "Hot Button"
In addition to all the “macro” coverage fans will be treated to across ESPN platforms, Super Bowl XLVI will be the first title game to feature two teams from ESPN.com’s new local Web sites. Providing the “micro” coverage that fans of the New England Patriots and New York Giants are clamoring for will be ESPNBoston.com and ESPNNewYork.com. Mike Reiss and Ohm Youngmisuk will anchor the sites’ coverage.
They join us on this edition of the Front & Center podcast. They discuss, among other things: the impact of the Super Bowl on their respective sites; resources being utilized by both sites; memories from the Week 9 regular season Pats/Giants meeting; collaborative efforts (such as the “Hot Button” feature, pictured) and a (fairly) rapid fire session of Super Bowl Roll.
To listen to the Podcast, please Click Here.
posted by David Scott on January 30, 2012 1:12 PM
Front & Center: Hannah Storm discusses #FaceToFace NFL interviews
To listen to the Podcast, please CLICK HERE.
With the biggest game of the year on tap for Sunday, Feb. 5, there is perhaps no more appropriate way to take a look back at the 2011 NFL season than with four of the league’s biggest newsmakers.
ESPN2 will do just that on Tuesday, Jan. 31 (9 p.m. ET) when it debuts a “SportsCenter Special: NFL Face to Face with Hannah Storm. (Use hashtag #FaceToFace to discuss on Twitter.)
The hour-long special features long-format, in-depth interviews with Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Ndamukong Suh and Colts owner Jim Irsay.
On this edition of the Front & Center podcast, Hannah discusses, among other things, how the show’s concept came together; her admiration for ABC’s Barbara Walters; the common thread found in all four personalities she visited with and the incredible artist who provides the special’s open and in-show content (Front Row will have more on this unique artist on Tuesday).
“This is a project I’m very passionate about and one I’ve wanted to do for several years,” said Storm. “It was revealing to see some of the biggest names in the NFL open themselves up, both in our interviews and by taking our ESPN cameras to places that were very personal to them. I think that viewers will walk away understanding how complex and fascinating each of these highly accomplished four men are.”
posted by Bill Hofheimer on January 29, 2012 9:30 AM
Super Bowl Week kicks off in Indy
ESPN's coverage of Super Bowl XLVI includes ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning (simulcast on ESPN2). This photo is from SB XLV coverage last year in Fort Worth, Texas.
Super Bowl week is here!
After months of planning and a week of building our on-site set, ESPN is making Pan Am Plaza in downtown Indianapolis its Super Bowl XLVI home for the next seven days.
It all begins bright and early tomorrow with Mike & Mike in the Morning at 6 a.m. and continues through our postgame coverage next Sunday.
ESPN brings more television and radio shows on the road for Super Bowl than for any other single event on the annual sports calendar. This year is no exception with more than 110 hours of coverage originating from right in the heart of the Super Bowl Village, just two blocks from Lucas Oil Stadium.
Our hosts, analysts, reporters, production team and other staff — more than 100 people in all — will be on the scene to cover every angle and to bring the action home to fans across the country — and even around the world.
We will have an All Pro lineup of NFL guests on our many shows all week, including many current players and Hall of Famers who will offer their insight and perspective on the Giants-Patriots matchup and other topics.
The schedule of programs fans can expect to see Monday thru Friday this week from Indianapolis is posted below. (This press release provides even more details.)
We have an exciting week ahead in anticipation of Super Bowl XLVI. We hope you enjoy it as much as we like bringing it to you.
Daily ESPN programs originating from Indianapolis Monday – Friday:
| Time (ET) | Show | Network |
| 6-10 a.m. | Mike & Mike In The Morning | ESPN Radio/ESPN2 (simulcast) |
| 9 a.m.-3 p.m. | SportsCenter | ESPN |
| 10 a.m.-1 p.m. | The Herd with Colin Cowherd | ESPN Radio/ESPNEWS |
| 1 p.m.-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 |
posted by Bill Hofheimer on January 27, 2012 12:57 PM
Super Bowl XLVI studio in Indy
On Monday, ESPN will kick off 110 hours of planned television and radio coverage from Pan Am Plaza in downtown Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI. We wanted to give you a preview of our main set here, which overlooks Lucas Oil Stadium.
We hope you like, and, if you happen to be in The Circle City next week, we hope you will come by and see us. All shows will be available for free public viewing.
