ESPN is taking its NFL pregame show Sunday NFL Countdown on the road this week. It will be just the third time the show has originated from somewhere other than the Bristol studio in its 33 year history. The show will originate from Manning’s Sports Bar and Grille just down the road from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans as the undefeated Rams get set to face the 6-1 Saints.
We could see some crossover between Sunday NFL Countdown and ESPN’s college football pregame show College Gameday, which will be live from Baton Rouge, Louisiana the day before when top-ranked Alabama visits third-ranked LSU. In a press release, Stephanie Durley, ESPN’s Vice President of Events and Studio Production, acknowledged that the chance to put both shows in Louisiana on back-to-back days is what made the idea of taking the NFL show on the road appealing.
It’s a big football weekend in Louisiana and ESPN will be a part of it with College GameDay and Sunday NFL Countdown,” said Stephanie Druley, ESPN Senior Vice President, Events and Studio Production. “With the NFL’s only remaining undefeated team and the No. 1 team in college football playing pivotal away games on consecutive days so close to each other, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to send these two signature shows on the road.
The added benefit of any cross-over between the two shows is that Samantha Ponder, who now hosts Sunday NFL Countdown, is a former correspondent for College Gameday and was the sideline reporter for ABC’s primetime college football broadcast until 2016. It also would be fun to see some Gameday traditions like celebrity guest pickers and fan signs brought to an NFL environment.
