Sports Media Spotlight: Penn State alumnus Rich Russo to have a different view of the Super Bowl this year
Last year, Rich Russo spent Super Bowl Sunday in a production truck outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami deciding what images would make the screen for the 100 million people watching the broadcast.
This Sunday, he’ll be watching the game from his home in New Jersey — just like you and me.
OK, not really like you and me because Russo will watch the game and see a lot of things we do not. That’s his job. As the lead NFL director for Fox Sports, Russo has directed four Super Bowl games and been part of 15 broadcasts of the season-ending game.
He learned sports broadcasting from two behind-the-scenes legends, producer Bob Stenner and director Sandy Grossman, the duo that worked with broadcasters Pat Summerall and John Madden in their heyday.
Russo, then a researcher for CBS Sports, learned well. The Penn State alumnus has been the lead director for Fox’s NFL package for 11 years, working with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. And if Russo’s not in the production truck for the Super Bowl, he’s happy to be at home watching — especially this year.
“In a non-pandemic year, my wife would want to have some people over and it just drove me crazy because people are yelling and screaming and I’m trying to watch the game, trying to listen to the announcers. It’s like what are we doing here?” he says. “I’ll watch it as a fan and, sure, it’s natural for me to watch it as director to see what they’re doing.”
While Russo regularly refers to his team at Fox, he insists there’s no competition in mind when he’s watching his counterparts at work. “Whoever’s doing the game you want to do well, you really do,” he says.
Russo says a perfect broadcast represents an elusive standard, and the Super Bowl only compounds the challenge. A regular season NFL game broadcast typically uses 10 cameras, while there are 10 times that many for the Super Bowl.
“It’s definitely different. It’s not like any given Sunday. But, I will say this, when that Sunday comes, when that ball is kicked, you have to treat it like a football game and you have to be comfortable with all the extra equipment,” Russo says. “You can’t go into a game of that magnitude overwhelmed.”
Russo, who played varsity lacrosse at Penn State, said a game plan matters on the field and off.
“You don’t have to use every single camera every time. You just have to know you’ll use certain cameras if certain situations arise,” he says. “When the teams come down the tunnel on Super Bowl Sunday there’s an adrenaline rush for all of us.”
A farewell plug: If you want to hear more from Russo, in his own words, check out the “Stuff Somers Says (with Steve)” podcast wherever you find your podcasts. Steve? Yes, that’s me — and Russo was a good and timely guest for the show whose namesake is Penn State alumnus Darian Somers. Previous guests have included: Brian Tripp of Penn State hockey, ESPN hockey writer Emily Kaplan and author and sports writer Dana O’Neil, who was just elected to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame.
Going … gone
NBCUniversal announced it would shut down NBC Sports Network at the end of this year, but do not be surprised if the all-sports network goes away sooner.
With the decision made and landing spots like USA Network and streaming service Peacock already outlined for major sports properties on the channel, there seems to be little reason to wait for the inevitable.
NBC Sports Network was initially launched as Outdoor Life Network in 1995. It was rebranded as Versus in 2006 and became NBCSN in 2011. At one point it grew to be the largest sports network behind only ESPN and ESPN2. Still, cord cutting and the proliferation of streaming outlets (including its own with Peacock) represented a shift in viewing habits that, combined with the coronavirus pandemic and a lack of programming, proved tough to overcome.
Sports most impacted include NASCAR, the NHL and IndyCar. Additionally, the WWE, which has long had a deal with USA, announced its WWE Network would roll under the premium Peacock option — still a pay service, but Peacock Premium costs less at this time than the WWE Network.
Farewell Feherty
Golf Channel recently canceled the best, most entertaining interview show on TV: “Feherty.”
Longtime host David Feherty will remain as a golf analyst for Golf Channel and NBC, but his self-titled show was inevitably fun and informative. It started in 2011 with an interview of golfer Lee Trevino and eventually stretched for more than 150 episodes as Feherty went beyond golf, and even sports.
His curiosity, honesty, humor and empathy made him and his guests relatable — and made the show fun. It’s amazing we can have so many channels and options available but still not have room for that kind of original, quality programming.
Tuner tidbits
If you watched ESPN’s “Al Davis vs. The NFL” Thursday, the compelling story was just part of the documentary. A look at the feud, rivalry and relationship between longtime Raiders owner Al Davis and former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle offered plenty of fodder. There was conflict, ego, money and talent — more than enough to carry a typical documentary produced by ESPN as part of its 30 for 30 franchise. Most interesting, though, was the decision by director Ken Rogers (who led the stellar “Elway to Marino” and “The Two Bills”) to use actors and a high-tech approach to bring Davis and Rozelle back to life in order to be on screen together. It just seemed an odd and unnecessary approach.
There’s money in gambling, especially sports gambling, and it’s showing up more and more in different areas of sports. First, the Charlotte Hornets named DraftKings as the exclusive “Official Daily Fantasy Sports Partner” of the franchise. Then, in the past week or so, Sinclair Broadcasting, which purchased 19 regional sports networks from coast to coast, announced the group would be branded by casino operator Bally’s Corp. So, they’ll become Bally Sports Great Lakes, Midwest, Arizona and the like. All will carry the same script Bally used by the casino.
Remember the College Football Playoff national championship game in January? Both ratings and viewership were down from the previous year for the Alabama-Ohio State matchup. Perhaps worse for the CFP, according to Sports Business Journal, advertising revenue was off 55% as well. The total was $40.3 million this year vs. $89.4 million last year. The top-five spenders were: AT&T Wireless ($2.88 million), Allstate ($2.61), Taco Bell ($2.15), Dr. Pepper ($2.11) and Chick-fil-A ($1.54).
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmy Johnson remains a popular option for sponsors, even in retirement. Well, he’s retired from stock-car racing. He moves to 13 road-course races on the IndyCar Series this year. The deal with owner Chip Ganassi attracted primary sponsorship from Carvana.
According to the latest Nielsen numbers on TV market size, Pittsburgh fell two spots and out of the Top 25 to 26th. Philadelphia remains solid at No. 4. The Harrisburg market is No. 42, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is No. 58 and Erie is No. 151. The Altoona/Johnstown/State College market is No. 107.
The University of Georgia announced it would provide a Top Golf-type setup June 18-24 at Sanford Stadium. It’s an interesting idea Penn State had considered in the past for Beaver Stadium, too.