ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ coming to Gillette
The last seven of Matt Garrett’s 19 years at ESPN have been spent as the coordinating producer of some of the network’s most prominent programming, including “Sunday NFL Countdown,” “Monday Night Countdown,” the Masters, and the PGA Championship.
Those gigs gave him a sturdy foundation of knowledge to bring to a role new to him this year — coordinating producer of “College GameDay,” which save for perhaps TNT’s “Inside the NBA” is the most celebrated studio program in sports television.
Yet because of “GameDay’s” distinctive characteristic — the cast and crew hit the road each week to broadcast from a different venue, with this Saturday’s show originating at Gillette Stadium in advance of the 124th Army-Navy game — it’s not something Garrett could have fully been prepared for.
“One thing I have found out is that there’s an incredible camaraderie to it,” said Garrett, who oversees a cast that includes host Rece Davis, analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Lee Corso, and Pat McAfee, insider Pete Thamel, reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims, and betting analyst “Stanford Steve” Coughlin.
“Some of that camaraderie is because you’re on the road. I’m having dinner on Thursday and Friday nights with members of the crew. You’re traveling with them. It’s a traveling family wherever you’re going. You’re seeing these people more often sometimes than you’re seeing your family at certain points of the season.
“When I joined the show over the summer, Kirk and I had a conversation and he said to me, ‘This is a show where people live the show, people really live the show. It is a part of who they are, it’s not something that they do, they’re not punching in at the beginning of a Tuesday and punching out and not worrying about the show.’
“I have seen nothing to disprove what he told me. He couldn’t have been more correct about that.”
Of course, such teamwork and unyielding commitment is a necessity to navigate the magnitude of what “GameDay,” in its 30th season and drawing viewership numbers on par with last year’s all-time best of 2.1 million viewers per show, pulls off each Saturday.
Take this week, for example. Come Saturday at 10 a.m., Davis, Herbstreit, and the rest of the show’s personalities will be situated on a set close to the Patriots Hall of Fame on the east side of the stadium. Their backdrop will be hundreds if not thousands of enthusiastic, sign-waving fans — when “GameDay” traveled to James Madison this season, a crowd of 26,000 showed up, believed to be a record for the show.
“Sometimes we don’t have the space to accommodate everybody just based on where the set is set up and if there are buildings that create parameters,” said Garrett, who wasn’t sure how many fans are anticipated Saturday.
Each week, a mastery of logistics is required at a new venue. (“GameDay” has never originated from Gillette Stadium.) The week begins for the show’s talent and production team with a conference call in which they go over the previous week’s show, then shift to brainstorming ideas, elements, segments, and guests for the coming week.
“Oddly, the beginning, the start of the week is sometimes crazier than the end of the week just because you’re trying to get so many plans in place,” said Garrett. “You’re trying to get your ducks in a row so that you’re in a good position at the back half of the week. If you’ve done a good job early in the week, the back half of the week just kind of falls into place.”
The operations crew begins setting up on site on Wednesdays. Talent and production personnel arrive Thursday night or Friday morning, with a production meeting a crucial part of the agenda on Friday morning.
Garrett noted that there are two differences between the Army-Navy game and a typical “GameDay” broadcast. One, this will have a balance between Midshipmen and Cadets as well as the fans of both teams, whereas usually “GameDay” is not originating from a neutral site.
And the other difference? “We’ve actually been able to plan in advance on this one,” said Garrett. “So often we truly are deciding where we’re going six days in advance. We don’t always know where we’re headed until the Saturday or Sunday before we go. And that’s a testament to our operations team that they’re able to say, ‘All right, we’re not going to X, we’re going to Y,’ and they pack up the trucks and they get rolling and they set something up.
“This is different because it’s one we’ve known. It’s been on the calendar. We’ve been working with the great teams at Army and at Navy to plan guests, plan segments, plan feature content that we’ve been shooting with the schools all week long.”
When the show goes live at 10 a.m. Saturday, its personalities and crew must be mindful of two audiences: the one on set, and the one watching at home. The more fun people seem to be having on site, the more enjoyable the broadcast is likely to be for those watching from their living rooms.
“It’s really important to make sure you’re always keeping that balance in mind,” said Garrett. “It’s something that Pat McAfee talks a lot about, something that Kirk and Rece and all of our talent talk a lot about, is just the importance of making sure that we are doing right by the crowd that we have on site each Saturday morning, and making sure that they’re engaged in the show and that we are adding them as the fifth or the sixth member of the set.
“Because the crowd’s passion, their energy, their excitement, and their reactions to what’s going on the set is really something that enhances the product for people at home. We’re producing the show for the people on site to help the people at home enjoy it more. We want everyone to have a good time.”