ESPN Lands In Scottsdale For The Big Game

Millions of viewers across the nation will be inundated with images of Camelback Mountain and the Scottsdale area next week as the cable sports network ramps up unprecedented remote coverage of the NFL Super Bowl.

AZ Central reports hundreds of ESPN employees have converged on Arizona as the company scrambles to build a massive mobile studio on the northern side of Scottsdale Fashion Square, bringing a host of popular on-air personalities and celebrities to its temporary epicenter in downtown Scottsdale.

The network is going all-out for Super Bowl XLIX with a presence that dwarfs what ESPN did for Arizona's most recent Super Bowl in 2008.

For the first time, ESPN's marquee program, "SportsCenter," will make the trip from its headquarters in Bristol, Conn., to broadcast the full show from the Super Bowl site, having aired only shorter segments in previous years.

Several other ESPN television and radio programs, including "First Take," "PTI" and "The Herd with Colin Cowherd," will broadcast live from Scottsdale beginning at 4 a.m. Monday.

Coverage will continue through the week and wrap up with a four-hour countdown show before the Super Bowl on Feb. 1 and a final SportsCenter broadcast from Scottsdale after the game.

ESPN has been planning for this moment for about two years, and the company has about 500 of its 7,000 employees in Arizona for one of the biggest sports weekends in state history.

The NFL Pro Bowl all-star event kicks off Sunday, followed by the Super Bowl on Feb. 1. In between, the Waste Management Phoenix Open runs from Thursday through Sunday, with the anticipated return of Tiger Woods casting a brighter-than-usual spotlight on the golf tournament.

Moving a major sports network roughly 2,200 miles for a week of programming is, of course, a major undertaking, and this year ESPN plans to broadcast 130 hours of remote coverage, more than it ever has for Super Bowl week.

Nine semitrucks hauled equipment across the country to a dirt lot north of Fashion Square, where crews are rolling out about 5 miles of cables and setting up three stages. The network has 19 cameras on hand for its television broadcasts, ESPN coordinating director Michael Feinberg said.

By the numbers

• 3 stages for ESPN television and radio broadcasts
• 5 miles of cables used to operate ESPN's mobile sets
• 9 semi-trucks to haul equipment cross-country for ESPN coverage
• 17 Super Bowl rings among ESPN analysts — former players, coaches, executives — working Super Bowl week in Arizona
• 19 cameras on hand for television broadcasts
• 30 hours of SportsCenter to broadcase from Scottsdale during Super Bowl week
• 40 ESPN on-air hosts, anchors, analysts and reporters in Arizona for Super Bowl coverage (approximately)
• 130 hours of TV/Radio coverage from AZ during SB week

ESPN Audio Coverage

Four of ESPN Audio’s top shows will broadcast 65 hours of live, onsite coverage from Scottsdale Fashion Square in Arizona beginning Monday, Jan. 26, through Friday, Jan. 30.

• Mike & Mike: (M-F, 6-10 a.m. ET, simulcast on ESPN2): Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, hosts of ESPN Radio’s popular national morning show, will kick off ESPN’s Super Bowl week. The show will welcome special guest co-hosts Brian Urlacher (Tuesday), Charles Woodson (Thursday) and J.J. Watt (Friday).
• The Herd with Colin Cowherd: Cowherd will also be live with his daily radio show from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. The Herd is simulcast daily on ESPNU.
• SVP & Russillo: Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo will host the daily SVP & Russillo from 1-4 p.m. (simulcast on ESPNEWS until 2:30 p.m.) all week.
• Sedano & Stink: Hosts Jorge Sedano and ESPN NFL analyst and three-time Super Bowl champion Mark Schlereth will broadcast live from 7-10 p.m.

In addition, ESPN NY 98.7 will air 30 hours live from Scottsdale Fashion Square, Monday through Friday, with Lupica (1-3 p.m.) and The Michael Kay Show (3-7 p.m.).