ESPN ‘circus’ coming Oct. 16
By Darren Urban, Tribune
June 9, 2006
The Cardinals don’t go to training camp until the end of July, their new stadium doesn’t open until Aug. 1, and the team doesn’t play its "Monday Night Football" game there until Oct. 16.
But Thursday, ESPN sent a group of 14 key members of its "MNF" staff cross country to scout out the building — because the network needs that long to prepare for the spectacle.
“We’re a big circus,” said Stephanie Druley, the senior coordinating producer for “NFL Countdown,” one of ESPN’s shows. “And we’re coming to town.”
After its 36-year run on ABC, the "Monday Night Football" franchise has moved to ESPN. And the network has big plans for its first year of games.
Other than the game itself, four ESPN shows — an as-yet-untitled show that would take the place of the early afternoon “SportsCenter,” "Pardon the Interruption," "NFL Primetime" and "Monday Night Countdown" — will be anchored through sets at the "Monday Night Football" venues.
ESPN also plans to do some SportsCenter cut-ins from the site on Sunday night, but the bulk of the TV time from Arizona will come on Monday.
“We’re generating a buzz, making it an event,” said "MNF" coordinating producer Jay Rothman. “It’s not that we are trying to reinvent "Monday Night Football." Actually, we are trying to invent our own "Monday Night Football."
“It’s a very strong brand, 36 years worth. But unlike a network with obligations to (other) programming, we are a 24-hour sports network. It’ll be more than a game for each city we go to.”
Operations producer Steve Carter said ESPN will need 215 workers on site to put on the telecasts, up from 140 when the network did "Sunday Night Football." Including the people needed to put on the ancillary ESPN programming, the network will have 400 people at Cardinals Stadium that day.
Director Chip Dean, who has spent the last 16 years working with Rothman on football telecasts, said the undertaking each week will compare to the network’s Super Bowl coverage each year.
That kind of attention is attractive to the Cardinals, a team expecting to have a breakout season.
“I ain’t got no problem with it,” Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson said. “If we are on the winning track when the Monday night game comes around, it’s all good.
“If we are losing, it could be awful. We definitely want to be winning by that time.”
The ESPN contingent, touring its 10th of 13 "MNF" cities, got a decent perspective on how the stadium will look and feel despite the fact construction is not finished.
Closing in on the Aug. 1 opening, air conditioning pumped through most of the facility, the gigantic video screen in the south end zone was showing Cardinals clips Thursday afternoon, and some of the offices inside the stadium are already in use.
Some of the ESPN crew may return to re-evaluate the plan once the season starts and the stadium has been used; the Cards’ first game there will be a preseason contest against Pittsburgh Aug. 12, and there are rumblings the team is considering moving its Aug. 5 mock game out of Flagstaff and into the stadium.
If the mock game is moved, that would make six football events in the stadium before "Monday Night Football" and the ESPN “circus” come to town.
“Guys in the league want to play on Monday night,” Wilson said. “It’s a dream for guys to be playing in prime time.”
EXTRA POINTS:
The Cardinals completed their second week of organized team activities Thursday. The team has four more on-field workouts next week before breaking up until training camp. . . .
Former Cardinals defensive tackle Ross Kolodziej, whom the team did not want back as a free agent, signed with Minnesota.
ESPN the event
With ESPN taking over “Monday Night Football” this season, the network is turning each game into an anchor of around nine hours of programming. A look at the schedule, which includes the Arizona times for the Oct. 16 game between the Cardinals and Chicago Bears at Cardinals Stadium:
Noon to 2 p.m.: As-yet-unnamed show originating from Bristol, Conn., but including many segments from Cardinals Stadium with network talent like Chris Berman, Steve Young, Tom Jackson and Michael Irvin likely at a set on the Great Lawn on the west side of the facility.
2 to 2:30 p.m.: Around the Horn
2:30 to 3 p.m.: Pardon the Interruption, with co-host Tony Kornheiser — who is also on the MNF broadcasting team — on site.
3 to 4 p.m.: NFL Primetime, from the same outdoor set at Cardinals Stadium
4 to 5:30 p.m.: Monday Night Countdown, from an on-site set
5:30 p.m.: Kickoff for Cardinals-Bears, with postgame
Contact Darren Urban by email, or phone (480) 898-6525
By Darren Urban, Tribune
June 9, 2006
The Cardinals don’t go to training camp until the end of July, their new stadium doesn’t open until Aug. 1, and the team doesn’t play its "Monday Night Football" game there until Oct. 16.
But Thursday, ESPN sent a group of 14 key members of its "MNF" staff cross country to scout out the building — because the network needs that long to prepare for the spectacle.
“We’re a big circus,” said Stephanie Druley, the senior coordinating producer for “NFL Countdown,” one of ESPN’s shows. “And we’re coming to town.”
After its 36-year run on ABC, the "Monday Night Football" franchise has moved to ESPN. And the network has big plans for its first year of games.
Other than the game itself, four ESPN shows — an as-yet-untitled show that would take the place of the early afternoon “SportsCenter,” "Pardon the Interruption," "NFL Primetime" and "Monday Night Countdown" — will be anchored through sets at the "Monday Night Football" venues.
ESPN also plans to do some SportsCenter cut-ins from the site on Sunday night, but the bulk of the TV time from Arizona will come on Monday.
“We’re generating a buzz, making it an event,” said "MNF" coordinating producer Jay Rothman. “It’s not that we are trying to reinvent "Monday Night Football." Actually, we are trying to invent our own "Monday Night Football."
“It’s a very strong brand, 36 years worth. But unlike a network with obligations to (other) programming, we are a 24-hour sports network. It’ll be more than a game for each city we go to.”
Operations producer Steve Carter said ESPN will need 215 workers on site to put on the telecasts, up from 140 when the network did "Sunday Night Football." Including the people needed to put on the ancillary ESPN programming, the network will have 400 people at Cardinals Stadium that day.
Director Chip Dean, who has spent the last 16 years working with Rothman on football telecasts, said the undertaking each week will compare to the network’s Super Bowl coverage each year.
That kind of attention is attractive to the Cardinals, a team expecting to have a breakout season.
“I ain’t got no problem with it,” Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson said. “If we are on the winning track when the Monday night game comes around, it’s all good.
“If we are losing, it could be awful. We definitely want to be winning by that time.”
The ESPN contingent, touring its 10th of 13 "MNF" cities, got a decent perspective on how the stadium will look and feel despite the fact construction is not finished.
Closing in on the Aug. 1 opening, air conditioning pumped through most of the facility, the gigantic video screen in the south end zone was showing Cardinals clips Thursday afternoon, and some of the offices inside the stadium are already in use.
Some of the ESPN crew may return to re-evaluate the plan once the season starts and the stadium has been used; the Cards’ first game there will be a preseason contest against Pittsburgh Aug. 12, and there are rumblings the team is considering moving its Aug. 5 mock game out of Flagstaff and into the stadium.
If the mock game is moved, that would make six football events in the stadium before "Monday Night Football" and the ESPN “circus” come to town.
“Guys in the league want to play on Monday night,” Wilson said. “It’s a dream for guys to be playing in prime time.”
EXTRA POINTS:
The Cardinals completed their second week of organized team activities Thursday. The team has four more on-field workouts next week before breaking up until training camp. . . .
Former Cardinals defensive tackle Ross Kolodziej, whom the team did not want back as a free agent, signed with Minnesota.
ESPN the event
With ESPN taking over “Monday Night Football” this season, the network is turning each game into an anchor of around nine hours of programming. A look at the schedule, which includes the Arizona times for the Oct. 16 game between the Cardinals and Chicago Bears at Cardinals Stadium:
Noon to 2 p.m.: As-yet-unnamed show originating from Bristol, Conn., but including many segments from Cardinals Stadium with network talent like Chris Berman, Steve Young, Tom Jackson and Michael Irvin likely at a set on the Great Lawn on the west side of the facility.
2 to 2:30 p.m.: Around the Horn
2:30 to 3 p.m.: Pardon the Interruption, with co-host Tony Kornheiser — who is also on the MNF broadcasting team — on site.
3 to 4 p.m.: NFL Primetime, from the same outdoor set at Cardinals Stadium
4 to 5:30 p.m.: Monday Night Countdown, from an on-site set
5:30 p.m.: Kickoff for Cardinals-Bears, with postgame
Contact Darren Urban by email, or phone (480) 898-6525
