Buck gets more flack than is warranted - he’s not that bad IMO
I quite like Joe Buck. I think a lot of the flack he gets dates back to perceptions formed over a few years where he was really really bland and seemed very uninterested. He has improved quite a bit over the last few years. That said, I’m glad that on weeks where Fox don’t have a doubleheader, Buck only does Thursday night, allowing Kevin Burkhardt to get the #1 Sunday game.
As for ESPN, going back to the traditional two-man booth has worked well in my view. The 2018 debacle of having commentators frequently talking over each other from separate locations was frustrating. I think Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland work well together and have improved during the year. I hope they get another year (or two, so I can choose them over the commentator pairing I can’t stand, NBC’s Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth for Super Bowl 2022!)
The World Feed coverage is Fox’s Charles Davis and NYG announcer Bob Papa. It’s produced by NFL Films and shown outside the US.
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I can only presume ESPN US is not producing any content leading up to the game itself given it doesn’t have the rights? There’s this obsession with trying to localise foreign sports broadcasts with local talent when the majority of the time, part of the appeal is the local analysts.
No disrespect to Neroli, who is a top talent. I just find it annoying
They’re doing a four-hour ‘Postseason NFL Countdown’ program from 10am ET - 2pm ET.
In regards to your point, the actual game itself (as outlined above) will be called by the same crew who did Monday Night Football this season
So it will finish about four hours before kickoff?
I know…it was terrible last year with pandering to Aus/NZ audiences with shoehorned references.
I hate sports coverage that does this as well as pandering to the one-off viewer - it doesnt happen during any other of ESPN’s NFL coverage, so why should it happen during the superbowl?
Yeah - ESPN US has live sport the rest of the afternoon
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According to AwfulAnnouncing.com, Kevin Burkhardt will be on the world feed, not Bob Papa. I’ve seen this reported in some other places as well. Surprising to see Papa not being used after so many years, but at the same time not surprising to see Burkhardt and Davis together as they’re usually paired on Fox.
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Burkhardt will be calling XFL in America starting next week.
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This coverage completely targeted the Australian audience. Even Australian sponsors including “Macca’s”, Holden and Optus 5G.
I also enjoyed Neroli Meadows’ contribution to the pre-game.
This was because the coverage was made specifically by the Sportscentre Australia team for Australia/NZ only. Why wouldn’t they want to have sponsors from Australia? No American company is going to waste money on advertising to Australian audiences if they can’t access their product. It’s always going to be Sportscentre Australia presented by Maccas and not Sportscentre Australia presented by Verizon 5G.
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When Sportscenter US shows highlights from the game, do they use their own footage or do they have to source it from the US broadcaster with the rights?
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Generally I believe they’ll source it from the host telecaster, much like they do for the balance of the season.
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The host broadcaster (which was Fox this year) is the sole US telecaster so that’s the footage that gets used.
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ESPN will show the Andrew Gaze MVP Awards live from Melbourne at 8.30pm AEDT tonight, as part of its NBL broadcast deal.
Also on SBS Viceland and SBS On Demand.
Are the NBL finals on ESPN as well, or only on SBS?