CBS Sports Prepares ‘a Very Different Kind of Super Bowl’

The network presenting each year’s Super Bowl is known for making its share of hyperbolic statements about the game’s importance. But with the U.S. closing in on an entire year spent quarantining due to Covid-19, CBS has more leeway than most as it touts the significance of Super Bowl 55, which it broadcasts on Sunday. “America needs this Super Bowl. It’s an opportunity for this country to come together,” Sean McManus, CBS Sports chairman and executive producer, recently told reporters. The game, he added, will be “a celebration of everything that’s great about this country,” and will be uplifting and unifying to audiences. That’s no small task, but it's one that CBS Sports has spent almost a year preparing for. “It’s going to be a very different kind of Super Bowl, but I think it’s going to be a very meaningful one,” McManus said. 'It's all about tone' Just as Super Bowl advertisers have been struggling to capture the right tone during the pandemic, CBS is also wrestling with the same issue when it comes to producing the game. “It’s all about tone,” McManus said. “The tone is going to be a little bit different this year.” The telecast won’t be somber or depressing, “but I think we’ll put everything in perspective,” McManus said. He expects to convey a sense of optimism “that we’re all going to get through it, and we’re going to get through it together.” It will also look much different than any other previous Super Bowl. Because of the pandemic, the NFL is limiting the crowd at Raymond James Stadium, where the game will be played, to 25,000 fans—about 38% of capacity. The fans will include 7,500 vaccinated health care workers and 30,000 cutouts will fill the remaining empty crowd space. CBS, which will have 120 cameras around the field and stadium, is taking advantage of the reduced capacity by offering “unique views and never-before-seen perspectives,” according to McManus. Chief among them is the Trolley Cam, which is appearing in the Super Bowl for the first time. The camera will speed from one end of the stadium to the other, ziplining along a wire and positioned to provide the perspective of a fan seated in the eighth row, giving audiences “almost the perfect view,” Harold Bryant, executive producer and evp, production, CBS Sports, said. CBS Sports' new Trolley Cam. One of four flying cameras used in the game, the Trolly Cam “can zoom along with the players as they run down the field,” Bryant said. “This is going to allow us to bring the viewer closer to the game.” Producing from a distance At the same time, CBS execs find themselves further away from the Super Bowl—and all that week usually entails—than ever. Ordinarily, McManus would fly down the Super Bowl location a week ahead of time, and spend the next six days meeting with NFL partners, team owners and CBS Sports employees at various functions and team meetings. On Game Day, he usually visits owners in their suites and executives and players on the field, before heading to the CBS Sports production truck for the game itself. “It’s going to be unlike any Super Bowl that I’ve been to,” said McManus, who instead won’t fly down until Thursday, immediately get tested for Covid-19, and stay in his hotel room until he receives the results. He’ll then attend socially distant meetings on Saturday, and instead of attending fancy dinners, he’ll eat room service. During the game, “I’ll be in an office instead of a truck,” said McManus. Meanwhile, play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and game analyst Tony Romo, who will be calling the Super Bowl, won’t see each other in person until they get into the booth on Sunday. While almost everything about Super Bowl 55 will be unconventional this year, one thing will remain the same: the game itself, as the Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs face off against Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With one of the best quarterbacks of all time (Brady) battling the game’s top young quarterback (Mahomes), “we couldn’t have asked for a better matchup,” McManus said. “There are so many storylines, and we look forward to telling them all.” Romo added that “as a football fan, this is as good as it gets.” For all the latest Super Bowl advertising news—who’s in, who’s out, teasers, full ads and more—check out Adweek’s Super Bowl 2021 Ad Tracker and the rest of our stories about the Big Game. And join us on the evening of Feb. 7 for the best in-game coverage of the commercials anywhere.