EA SPORTS Madden NFL Cast, a one-of-a-kind live football experience blending video game elements and live action, will stream live exclusively on Peacock this Saturday, December 21 at 1 p.m. ET for the Houston Texans-Kansas City Chiefs game . . SVG had the opportunity to sit down with NBC Sports producerSteve Greenberg And director Geoff Butler, who will have a front row seat to the production, to reflect on their unique broadcast philosophy and what they have learned over the past two weeks of rehearsals.
The stream, a collaboration between NBC Sports, Peacock, the National Football League, EA SPORTS and Genius Sports, will be an immersive, data-powered live football experience that injects the unique elements of the Madden NFL brand in the form of animated overlays . Featuring live EA SPORTS Madden NFL 25 graphics, route trees, game maps and player ratings, the Madden NFL Cast will transform football strategy, insights and IQ for viewers, powered by stats NFL Next Gen and GeniusIQ, Genius Sports’ next generation data and AI platform. GeniusIQ combines real-time data insights with fully personalized animations, providing an immersive visual experience.
In this interview, Greenberg and Butler discuss how Madden NFL casting will differ from traditional coverage, what the last two weeks of rehearsals have been like, the unique build of a studio in Stamford for on-air talent and how esports/gaming has evolved. influenced their approach to the show.
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Aside from the Mad graphics of the game, how the Madden NFL Cast differ in terms of how you produce the show? Greenberg: There are definitely a lot of levels to this, which makes for a fun challenge. As far as how we cut the show, we’ll mostly stay on the line-cut of the main NBC show, but we’re changing the broadcast pre-snap so we can get that look that has all of the Mad features on it. Before each shot, we’ll switch to the All-22 sideline angle used by Genius Sports, which will feature all the X Factor and Superstar overlays, buttons, and icons.
And then we’ll have decisions to make based on the plays that happen during the game. If it’s a large piece where we want lots of replays, it’s likely we’ll stick to the main broadcast which will have all the high frame rate cameras etc. But there will be many other opportunities where we can do our own replays using the Traditional Skycam and the High Skycam, which provide this iconic functionality. Mad watch the game. When we do our own replays, our analysts can break down what they just saw with that. Mad perspective.
We can also superimpose reality Mad playbook on live footage, walk through the rooms and jump into the game itself in order to recreate certain rooms.
What have you learned from these last two weeks of rehearsals?
Butler: I would say the biggest learning was with our All-22 game camera with Genius overlays. There is a lot more information on this. So we’ll always get on our match camera earlier than a traditional football broadcast, to give the viewer more time to digest all the information on screen, but also just to show off the great look. Mad graphics that we put in real time on a live camera.
Also, in terms of timing and cadence, I have to be able to cleanly enter and exit a show performed by someone else in a completely different venue, so it’s a bit tricky. It’s a learning experience, but we’ve had pretty good success with the two tries we’ve done, and I’m super excited, looking forward to Saturday.
Can you tell me a little bit about the Stamford studio your announcers will use to call the game?
Greenberg: First and foremost, we try to tailor our broadcast to gamers, so having these guys in a small traditional booth just didn’t feel authentic to this audience. We wanted a more casual layout and a feeling of being able to break down the fourth wall that traditional broadcast won’t let you see. We want it to look a little messy and have people behind the curtain. So you’re going to see a few researchers on either side of Paul Burmeister helping him with his scouting and research, and Henry Leverett will have controls in front of him where he’s going to recreate pieces.
Greenberg: Second, we wanted it to feel a bit like a living room or gaming area, so we rearranged the entire studio to make that happen. We set up this huge Sony monitor, which Kurt, Chad, Paul and Henry will watch the game on. And we have the possibility of transforming it into seven different boxes. The main box will obviously be the show that everyone sees at home, but we can also give these guys other looks from the traditional Skycam or High Sky camera. We will also have the Mad game book in one of the boxes so Kurt can easily access it and go through the pieces of a great game. We want to know what he would think about if he was in the game and announcing the games. And then we will also have a box with the Mad the video game itself in case they want to jump in and try to recreate a play. Gamers are used to seeing multiple screens at once, so when we designed the studio space, we wanted it to be interactive and feel like there was a lot going on.
Butler: I will also use this space a lot to move in and out of commercials and between plays. We want our set to be another character in the broadcast, so you’re going to see it a lot.
Thus, you will be able to actually recreate the rebroadcast of the parts of the game in the Mad video game environment?
Greenberg: There is a feature in the game called Practice Mode, where you update rosters and simulate the exact same game you want. We can also guess the upcoming game and create it in-game to give viewers another perspective. We are very excited about the potential of these two options.
How does the workflow differ in the control room? Are the crew positions different for this production?
Greenberg: This doesn’t differ much in terms of positions, as even in a traditional football production there will be people on the truck or in the control room for things like 1st and Ten Row. We will have our own graphics operators and scorebar operator, as well as our own AD, director, producer and tapes who will create packages that will have Mad features. We will also have representatives from EA and Genius to support us. So it’s a little more complete control room with a few more bodies, but it’s been great working with EA and Genius on that.
Geoff – you worked in EA’s competitive gaming division for a few years – how did that experience help you prepare for this production?
Butler: I traveled the video game space and Mad in particular for several years, so I was able to see for myself the passion that Mad players have for this game, as well as the in-depth knowledge they have about the game. The amount of knowledge they gain about football while playing Mad is truly astonishing. Henri Leverettewho is one of the announcers on our show, is a great example of this. He is the reigning Mad Bowl Champion and even though he’s a young guy, he’s made more plays and more complete games than Andy Reid because he plays Mad competing 8 to 10 hours a day, every day. So he really knows a lot about football and the NFL, which adds a whole new angle to the coverage.
What inspiration, if any, have you taken from esports broadcasts and your time at EA?
Butler: Definitely, I try to use my experience working with EA as much as possible to know how to respond. We’re specifically targeting Madden fans, so we’re going to lean into it and make it seem like it’s something they would consume anyway.
An important thing is the picture-in-picture with the players on the screen. I’ve done a lot of FIFA and Madden (esports broadcasts) and you always see both competitors on screen (with POV cameras). Since we’re targeting that Madden audience, we’re embracing it. So you’ll see Chad and Kurt on screen almost all the time talking on screen, which is obviously not part of a normal football show.
The other big thing will be displaying the playbook on screen over the Skycam photo of the meeting – just like in the (video game). This may seem like a small thing, but it’s so authentic to the Madden experience.
Does the game appearing on Peacock instead of linear television change the way you approach this production?
Greenberg: I think Peacock is the perfect place for this because it allows us to be more creative. It’s more of a blank canvas, so we can break the mold more than we could with a traditional model. We are able to throw darts at the board and see what sticks. So we hope to get a product that speaks to passionate gamers and is authentic to them.
There is an entire demographic of NFL and football fans who consume the product exclusively through this video game. They may not watch NFL games on Sunday, but they know all the players and understand football. So it’s up to us to reach this audience by balancing real players on the field with video game elements to blur the lines between the two.
What are you most excited about on Saturday?
Greenberg: The funny thing for Jeff and I is that there’s no plan for this. Yes, we’ve had some rehearsals here, but there’s a lot of trial and error to find what the right cadence is between getting into the actual game and getting to the playbooks or staying with the main broadcast and getting all those replays. reading angles. So it’s a balance and it’ll be fun to figure out how to get the balance right.
Butler: It’s extremely exciting to have the chance to start from scratch. It’s every director’s dream to have that kind of influence on a show. It’s a great idea and I’m very grateful to be a part of it. Steve came up with some really great ideas on how we can blur the lines and blend the two worlds. We’re going to make this really fun for the viewers and do our best to engage the viewers. Mad fans watching.