The CFP Battle Begins: ESPN Covers First Round With Various MegaCast Options, Compact Tech Plan, Team Insights on Conference Networks By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor Friday, December 20, 2024 - 7:25 am
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A 12-team College Football Playoff has been a pipe dream for many years, but now that it's here, ESPN is going full bore to bring this bracket-style competition to the masses. The first two First Round primetime games between No. 10 Indiana and No. 7 Notre Dame on Friday, Dec. 20 and No. 9 Tennessee and No. 8 Ohio State on Saturday, Dec. 21 will feature nearly a dozen total viewing options on the four-letter network's signature CFP MegaCast production.
The main telecast for both games will be presented on ESPN and ABC, with additional viewing options on ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, SEC Network, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN App for one or both matchups. Additionally, the Saturday afternoon showdowns of No. 11 SMU at Penn State and No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas will be live on TNT, TBS, TruTV, Max (English and Spanish language broadcasts) and ESPN Radio.
Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show Leads MegaCast from Columbus For the third consecutive season, the MegaCast fan favorite Field Pass returns to the College Football Playoff. Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show will offer entertaining, free-flowing commentary of the First Round game featuring No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State on ESPN2. Pat McAfee will anchor coverage and call the action while roaming the sidelines of Ohio Stadium. He will be joined by a rotation of ESPN analysts, notable personalities, and celebrities throughout the game. His regular The Pat McAfee Show crew of AJ Hawk, Darius Butler, Connor Campbell, Ty Schmit, and Tone Digs are set to join McAfee in primetime from the sidelines of The Shoe.
Additional Alternate Presentations (all available on the ESPN App):
Command Center (ESPN2 - Fri/ESPNU - Sat): A multi-angle presentation, which includes up to four different vantage points at any one time, with real-time player and team statistics supplementing the game action.
SkyCast (ESPNEWS): The popular view from above the action and behind the offense on most plays. This unique angle has long been one of ESPN's alternate viewing options and is readily available on multiple games every week. Replays will be shown every time the main telecast shows a replay, while never losing the look from SkyCam.
CFP Marching Bands on ESPN App For the fourth consecutive year, the halftime marching band performances at the College Football Playoff will be available on the ESPN App. The sights and sounds of the Indiana University Marching Hundred, the Band of Fighting Irish, the Pride of the Southland Band and the Ohio State University Marching Band will be streaming live from their respective College Football Playoff First Round games via the All-22 view.
Ops Jigsaw Puzzle: Network Stitches Together Plan for On-Campus Productions Led by ESPN's Executive Director, Field Operations, John LaChance, these first round matchups will test the network's broadcast infrastructure and onsite operational planing. When it comes time to produce the College Football Playoffs, the crew is used to rolling up to professional stadiums that can handle a ton of technologies and multiple mobile units and don't require much fiber for connectivity. This weekend, these four games will not only be broadcasted from legacy venues with tech backbones suited for smaller-scaled shows, but also a much smaller-sized compound. This compound becomes a challenge since TNT Sports is distributing SMU-Penn State and Clemson-Texas on their networks.
To alleviate some of this stress, along with corralling the deluge of other games under their umbrella during college football bowl season, ESPN's remote operations staff is leaning on their REMI workflows from various locations. These cloud-based solutions will allow offsite personnel in Bristol, CT; Charlotte; and other locations to remain connected to these other facilities as well as the onsite staffers at the respective campuses.
Commentators Set for First Round Clashes In addition to ESPN's multiple presentations, fans will be able to hear the call of the CFP First Round from a multitude of broadcast teams:
Main Telecast (ESPN): ESPN's top commentary team of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Holly Rowe alongside Marty Smith are on the call for No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State, while Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath, and Katie George are teaming up for No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame.
The ESPN crews that will call the First Round matchups on TNT Sports (TNT/TBS/TruTV/Max) include Mark Jones, Roddy Jones, Quint Kessenich, and Tom Luginbill - No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State, and Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek, Taylor McGregor, and Laura Rutledge - No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas.
ESPN Radio (ESPN App): The broadcast for all four First Round games is available throughout the country on more than 400 ESPN Radio stations, the ESPN App, ESPNRadio.com, SiriusXM, Apple Music, iHeartRadio and TuneIn.
Indiana/Notre Dame: Mike Couzens, Max Starks, Alyssa Lang
SMU/Penn State: Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick, Dawn Davenport
Clemson/Texas: Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb, Dana Boyle
Tennessee/Ohio State: Marc Kestecher, Kelly Stouffer, Ian Fitzsimmons
Hometown Audio (SEC Network): Tennessee fans can listen to the local radio broadcast of the Vols, with their audio feed synced up with ESPN's SkyCast presentation on SEC Network. This MegaCast feed is made possible in conjunction with Vol Network Powered by LEARFIELD and showcases the voices of Bob Kesling, Pat Ryan, Brent Hubbs, and Jayson Swain.
Spanish Showcases (ESPN Deportes/ESPN App/Max): All four First Round games include Spanish-language calls featuring Eduardo V
