As the Philadelphia Eagles hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy inside Caesars Superdome victorious as Super Bowl champions, the city of New Orleans, La. made history hosting the championship game for the 11th time. FOX Sports sideline reporter Jen Hale played a major role in the festivities from her hometown as she welcomed visitors to the city as a community champion. Hale and her contemporaries promoted messages of positivity and took part in volunteer initiatives to benefit the area surrounding the Big Game.
“You won’t find a culture like this anywhere else,” Hale said. “There’s so much personality, there’s so much unique experience to soak up while you’re here, even if it’s not Mardi Gras time. Just the melting pot that is New Orleans, the way that we do things.”
Throughout the week, Hale fulfilled a variety of roles and attended numerous events, including serving as a host of the NFL Media Party at Mardi Gras World. Reflecting on the assemblage of football fans and media members in the region earlier this month, she remarked that the metropolis maintains the feel of a big, small city that is facile to navigate. In fact, people are able to do multiple things in an afternoon and evening voyaging to several destinations in the area while forging invaluable connections and becoming immersed in traditions and customs.
Hale considers the week to have been a massive victory for the city that gave an authentic view of the spirit within New Orleans. As someone who has an avidity and passion for the city, she was honored to be involved in the proceedings with a list of responsibilities.
“It’s something I’m going to remember forever to have gotten to be part of all of that as a community ambassador,” Hale said. “I’m very involved in the fabric of New Orleans – I have a foundation here – so to see all of that come full circle and to have all of those points hitting at the same time for the Super Bowl, it was definitely a moment that I’ll carry with me for a long time.”
More than 6,000 media professionals were credentialed for the game, and there was significant coverage of the action generating impressions and engagement across digital media platforms. Furthermore, the NFL Foundation and New Orleans Super Bowl Host Committee contributed $3.5 million in grants to 65 nonprofit organizations in the area.
On top of that, FOX Sports broadcast the game and attained an average of 127.7 million viewers for its presentation, marking the all-time record for the most-watched television program ever recorded in the United States. Tubi accounted for an average minute audience of 13.6 million consumers, marking the most-streamed Super Bowl in history as FOX Corporation develops a direct-to-consumer streaming service.
“I think people are looking for escapes and reasons to come together, and sports is one of the few things that can provide that outlet,” Hale said. “So I think a lot of people who maybe aren’t necessarily the biggest football fans or aren’t football fans of the two teams that were in it – the Chiefs and the Eagles – it’s still a bonding moment to be with friends, family, to come together and forget the troubles of the world.”
Hale worked her 14th season on FOX NFL games, pairing this season with play-by-play announcer Chris Myers and analyst Mark Schlereth, and she became one of eight sideline reporters to reach 200 games. Commensurate with innovation in the sports media business surrounding technologies and points of distribution, the role has evolved to yield more comprehensive access and insights surrounding a given contest. Hale considers herself to be an extra set of eyes and ears for the production team during the game.
“If you’re having weather, field conditions are always huge. ‘Is there a drain system for the field? When was the last time the turf was replaced?,’” Hale prognosticated. “Folks aren’t going to just offer that up. You have to know those questions to ask, and then you have to know those sources to go to and you have to put in the time and effort to do it.”
Although some storylines are clear ahead of time, there are instances where reporters need to react to new developments and enterprise in real time. For example, when Antonio Brown decided to abruptly storm off the field at MetLife Stadium, Hale described what was happening and amassed more information. During her postgame report, she divulged that Brown was no longer a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it marks the last game he played in the league before formally retiring last April.
“He was melting down with Mike Evans to begin with, and then that meltdown of course continued into what we all know it now was,” Hale said. “So you have to trust your eyes, you have to trust your gut, you have to develop sources. The NFL is a very protective world, a very suspicious world that people in that world don’t trust easily.”
Having a background in political coverage has assisted Hale in networking and developing sources throughout the league. While matriculating at Northwestern University to receive her master’s degree in broadcast journalism, she covered Capitol Hill for KNOE-TV and was later hired by the station. Over the years, she worked at several local outlets in the region, including WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge and WVTM-TV in Birmingham, honing her skills and gaining tangible experience.
“I think it was a real blessing to be honest with you because sports journalism these days, it’s not just about game analysis,” Hale explained. “There’s so much about sports that transcends life, so learning to ask the hard questions, learning to dig, learning to do your research, learning to be thorough, learning how to interact with people – they were all tremendous lessons that benefitted me whether I was covering sports or news, and now it’s a lot of fun.”
Hale worked as a correspondent for MSNBC and was assigned to cover Hurricane Katrina, and she was initially stationed in Mississippi since it aligned with the eye of the storm. When the levees broke though, she was moved to New Orleans and brought her institutional knowledge of the area to broadcasts for six months. Once learning that she would be reassigned to cover wildfires in California, Hale decided to stay in the area and contribute to the recovery.
In volunteering for various organizations in the area, she noticed a lack in entities focusing on young women in the area. This finding served as the impetus to create Sideline Pass, a charitable organization that supports scholarships and professional development for young women who excel in academics but have economic challenges.
“I’ve always loved the city, and it was important to me to be part of that process,” Hale said. “It felt like something bigger than you, and I think a lot of people who came to help felt the same way. We had a real influx of folks not from Louisiana, not from the south, who came in to do relief work and fell in love with the city, and so I ended up staying.”
Hale began anchoring a morning show with WVUE-TV with a 2 a.m. wake-up call, after which she would drive to Baton Rouge to work for free on select LSU Sports broadcast assignments. In a fortuitous string of events after additional work covering the New Orleans Saints, she was hired by FOX Sports as a sideline reporter without ever having to apply for the job.
“They saw that and offered it to me, and I say that with an asterisk because believe me, I have knocked on a million doors in my career – millions of blind résumés,” Hale said. “That was definitely a one-off, but it was funny. If I hadn’t volunteered and done those jobs pro bono, I probably would never have gotten my opportunity with big FOX.”
Upon joining the company, Laura Okmin and Suzy Kolber allotted time to speak with Hale on the phone to walk her through different facets of the role. It is a gesture for which she remains grateful, and she considers both of them to be mentors in the business to whom she receives inspiration and advice.
“As a female, you’re going to be criticized much more harshly for mistakes, so you’ve got to be uber-prepared, you’ve got to be uber-ready,” Hale said. “You’ve got to prove yourself in a different way. Every time you step on that field of play, pun intended, you’ve got to come with your game face on. There isn’t the margin for error for a female that there is for a man.”
One year after starting with FOX Sports, Hale received a chance to contribute to local broadcasts of New Orleans Pelicans basketball as a host and sideline reporter. The proposition was appealing since it was her local team and would not necessitate a move. At the time she accepted the position, there were rumors about the team potentially leaving the city, and she found it important to support the organization and safeguard a prospective departure. Hale has always enjoyed basketball, but there are clear differences between viewing both sports.
“With football, believe it or not being on the sidelines, a lot of times if you want to actually see the Xs and Os, being higher up, seeing that All-22 view [is] a better thing to watch 22 different players and the ball, what’s happening, where it’s going,” Hale outlined. “Basketball, you can see the strategy unfold from the sideline a lot easier than you can for football, and it’s a beautiful game.”
Hale recently transitioned away from the reporting role and currently works as a part-time host for Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network. Reflecting back on the intersection of her local and national jobs, she articulates that it was a lot to balance two full-time obligations at once. Even so, she found a means to thrive in this arrangement through an unrelenting dedication to the craft.
“There’s just something about being part of a live game, even a small part, that’s just an irreplaceable energy,” Hale said. “It’s something you can’t manufacture in studio. If you’re experiencing fatigue, you’re in the wrong business.”
As the sports media ecosystem continues innovating and adapting with emerging technologies and altered consumer proclivities, Hale avers that a need for great reporting will always exist. Developing and possessing a versatile skillset allows business professionals to fill more positions and take advantage of these platforms. Even though Hale hopes to continue reporting on football in her career, she also wants to be able to have chances to take part in new ventures in the business surrounding game coverage, carrying a perdurable connection to the Big Easy.
“With all of these emerging platforms with this shifting workplace technology, the business is going to look very different in five or 10 years than it does now, and that’s exciting and you want to be ready for it,” Hale said, “so you want to be as diverse in your skillset as possible and ready and willing to pivot.”
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Derek Futterman is an associate editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, email Derek@BarrettMedia.com or find him on X @derekfutterman.
