Whether you’re ready for it or not, the NFL is back. Preseason games seem to breath excitement and life into pretty much every football market. With the regular season less than a month away, the teams are getting themselves ready for the 18-week grind and so are broadcasters.
It takes a lot to draw some fans into a “meaningless” game, but plenty of people are drawn to them. If this doesn’t prove that the NFL is the top dog in the American sports landscape, I’m not sure what does. This year’s initial preseason game, the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, between the Browns and Jets drew a big number for NBC. Considering Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson didn’t take the field at all, it’s amazing that people still tuned in.
The game averaged 6.3 million viewers, the most for the HOF Game since 2018. For comparison’s sake, the NBA Playoffs averaged 5.5 million, and MLB’s divisional round drew an average of 3.5 million.
It amazes me because nobody cares about the scores of these games, unless you’ve got a few dollars on the outcome, of course. Most of the casual fans watching, probably have no clue who most of the players on the field are after the second quarter. Yet, people will watch, just because it’s football.
Preseason games are normally produced by the individual teams. The broadcasters are chosen by the franchise. I watched three of the NFL Preseason games last week and saw three different styles when it came to how much attention was paid to actual plays, the players, the future and the storylines. Oh, and you best have some things planned for the third and fourth quarters when these games can get a little sloppy to say the least.
These games are prepped for differently than most regular season games. Think about how many players there are in camp as opposed to a 53-man regular season roster. Some players might even be wearing duplicate numbers, which is always fun for a play-by-play announcer.
It’s important for the broadcasters to be around the team’s training camp for a bit to get the feel for what the team is focusing on and what the coaches are trying accomplish in a preseason game. They want to win, but sometimes there are victories in the preseason that wouldn’t get much, if any attention during a normal game week.
These games allow the broadcaster to really set up the telecast, teasing things they’ll be talking about later to keep people’s interests. There are many different ways a broadcast in the preseason can go.
Most fans aren’t able to attend training camp to see for themselves what is happening in practice. These telecasts can provide information on the different position battles and how the team’s prized draft choices are doing. Let the fans know how camp is going and who has improved from last year to this year. Finding human interest stories regarding players that warrant that type of treatment is also a great way to let a fanbase learn about their team. Interviews are easier to come by in camp. Things are so much more relaxed and players are more accessible than they will be in the regular season.
In week 1 of the preseason, the Buccaneers played the Steelers in Tampa, the Bears hosted the Titans in Chicago and New England faced the Texans at Gillette Stadium. I watched all of them. It was interesting to see how the telecasts differed and where they were the same.
Tampa Bay took on Pittsburgh at Raymond James Stadium. Chris Myers and Ronde Barber had the call on the Buccaneers Network. This broadcast focused early on the QB battle between Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield. On their first series, the Buccaneers ran the ball 4 straight times, including once on 4th down. It led Barber to say “this offense is going to be STARKLY different than what you’ve seen in the past.”
Yeah, I’ll say.
The team has a new play caller too, Dave Canales, to go along with a new quarterback. Barber lets fans in on how things have been going at camp by saying he’s “thoroughly impressed” by the former Seattle assistant.
The Tampa Bay broadcast also chose to honor Barber, who recently was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Myers and Barber, wearing his gold HOF jacket, came on camera to talk about his experience in Canton and how much it meant to the former Buccaneers defensive back. It was a nice touch, as Barber is a fan favorite.
This broadcast also took an opportunity on a personal foul call to go through the new rule change involving ‘launching’ now being called as a penalty. The telecast also used the sideline reporter several times, not just for added color and information, but also to do interviews.
Barber also recorded an interview with Mayfield on a “Barber’s Cut”. They used a soundbite coming back from a break and when the action continued, they squeezed the interview into a box at the lower left of the screen. Well done.
The Bears broadcast came at things from a slightly different angle. The Bears hosted the Titans with Adam Amin and Jim Miller on the call. They capitalized on the excitement of Bears’ fans for the upcoming season. There was a lot of talk early on exactly what they wanted to hear about: quarterback Justin Fields and how much he’s improved in his second year in the offense. Amin and Miller had no sooner talked about some of the new weapons, like DJ Moore, when the receiver took a screen pass 62-yards for a touchdown.
The telecast, produced by the Bears, fed into the needs of every Bears’ loyalist. During the team’s first defensive series, the spotlight was on all of the new players that were brought in via free agency and the draft. Sold as upgrades, the players featured in the build-up, performed. That included rookie defensive back Tyrique Stevenson who knocked a ball free on his first tackle. The broadcast seemed to be following the script.
Holding attention though is something that these game broadcasts need to do as mentioned. Still relatively early on Amin teased that the Bears broadcast would feature interviews with key front office folks. The Bears are making those executives available for the in-house telecasts. New President Kevin Warren and GM Ryan Poles will be featured in the next two game broadcasts, but this one had Chairman George McCaskey on in the third quarter.
I’ll admit, I stuck around just to hear what McCaskey had to say. Amin asked what he is feeling most excited about for the upcoming season. McCaskey said without hesitation, ”The buzz. Bears fans are excited. They deserve a winner. We’ve been down for too long. The division is there for the taking, and uh, we deserve it.”
The third broadcast I tuned into was the Patriots and Texans. Bob Socci, who I first met when being around the Peoria Chiefs, Single-A baseball team, was paired with Scott Zolak. This telecast was a little more business as usual in its approach. Not a bad way to go, since the broadcasters need a little ramp up as well for the regular season.
Probably the biggest name playing in the game was CJ Stroud, the Texans first round pick out of Ohio State. He didn’t get much air time, considering it was the Patriots’ broadcast. You wouldn’t expect the New England game coverage to provide an in-depth look at one of the opponents and they didn’t.
The unique part of this production? There was an alternate broadcast. Twin’s Devin and Jason McCourty, who played together on the Patriots and won a Super Bowl are the hosts. It’s called The McCourty Twin Cast and it’s first broadcast was last Thursday. There will be a total of three, meaning all of the Patriots’ preseason games give viewers an alternative to the actual game broadcast. These Twin Casts are also produced by the Patriots and are streamed live on the team’s website and its local affiliate, WBZ’s website. The Aug. 19 Twin Cast against the Green Bay Packers is also going to air on over the air television.
These team productions are much more in tune with what the fan bases are thirsty for. They have an audience that’s hooked on the product and can try different things. After watching all three telecasts, it’s nice to know there’s some variety out there and each team is doing its own thing. The fans are showing they are ready for some football and these team broadcasts are up to the task.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
