The Super Bowl is television’s biggest event in the United States, but when ESPN broadcasts the game for the first time this February, the network has its sights set even higher.
ESPN executives and personalities came to Seton Hall for the Center for Sports Media (CSM)’s “Lights, Camera, Super Bowl” event, giving students a behind-the-scenes look at Super Bowl LXI preparation.
The panel featured ESPN Vice President of Super Bowl Production Andy Tennant, social media personality Katie Feeney, ESPN play-by-play announcer Joe Buck, retired ESPN sports anchor and CSM founder Bob Ley, and sportswriter Jeremy Schaap. The group discussed everything from television ratings and potential matchups to the role of social media in covering the game.
Super Bowl LXI is scheduled for Feb. 14 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. ESPN will broadcast the game for the first time, with ABC also airing it. Buck will call the game alongside his longtime broadcast partner and Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman. The pair are the NFL's longest-tenured broadcasting duo, with over 25 years together in the booth.
For ESPN, simply broadcasting the game is not enough.
“The goal is to produce the most-watched Super Bowl on record,” Tennant said.
That will not be an easy mark to reach.
Super Bowl LIX, between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, averaged a record 127.7 million viewers across television and streaming platforms. ESPN's target this year is even higher.
“Our quest is 130 million,” Tennant said.
The game's date could help ESPN reach that number. Super Bowl LXI will be played on Valentine’s Day for the first time, while also falling the night before Presidents’ Day, when many Americans will have the day off from work and school.
Because many viewers will not have to wake up early the next morning, they may be more inclined to stay tuned after the final whistle rather than immediately turning off the television.
The Super Bowl audience has also continued to grow beyond the “traditional football fan.” The panel noted that nearly half of the previous Super Bowl’s audience was female.
That broad audience is one reason ESPN has spent months building toward its first Super Bowl.
The network began its “Year of the Super Bowl” following Super Bowl LX with “The Handoff,” a 24-hour, multiplatform event that shifted ESPN’s attention toward its 2027 broadcast. The event featured programming from SoFi Stadium, Disneyland and other locations across Southern California.
While ESPN can plan almost every detail of the broadcast, one factor remains outside its control: the two teams that will actually play.
Buck said broadcasters and producers naturally become invested in teams throughout the season as potential Super Bowl matchups take shape.
“You start becoming a fan of teams,” Buck said. “We want a great matchup in the Super Bowl.”
For Buck, the ideal matchup is one that attracts both diehard football fans and “casual” viewers who may watch only a few games each season.
Teams such as the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys were mentioned as examples of teams that could generate national interest if they reached the game.
Schaap also pointed out an interesting storyline if Buffalo makes it to the Super Bowl; Super Bowl LXI will take place on Feb. 14, the birthday of Bills legend Jim Kelly.
Kelly led Buffalo to four consecutive Super Bowls from the 1990 through 1993 seasons, but the Bills lost all four. To this day, Buffalo is still searching for the first Super Bowl championship in franchise history.
The Super Bowl is no longer consumed only through a traditional television broadcast.
Feeney, who has built an audience of millions across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, discussed the importance of creating content specifically for each social media platform.
Rather than simply reposting the same clips everywhere, Feeney emphasized finding unique moments that give audiences something different from what they see during the broadcast.
That approach reflects how social media has become another part of the Super Bowl experience. Moments surrounding the halftime show, players and celebrities can spread across social media before the television broadcast has even moved on.
One major announcement is still to come: the Super Bowl LXI halftime performer.
When asked when an announcement could be expected, Tennant suggested the wait may not be much longer.
“I assume the next couple of weeks,” Tennant said.
Whoever takes the stage at SoFi will become another part of ESPN’s effort to attract an audience larger than any Super Bowl before it.
For ESPN, the countdown to the big game has already started.
The network has spent months preparing for its first Super Bowl across television, streaming and social media. When Buck and Aikman welcome viewers to SoFi Stadium, ESPN will finally have the chance to turn those plans into what it hopes will be a record-breaking broadcast.
Jaden Highsmith is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at jaden.highsmith@student.shu.edu.
