Prem wraps up with CL, relegation places at stake
Arlo White didn’t know what to expect when the Premier League season resumed with Project Restart. The only thing he knew was that it beat the alternatives.
“Watching exciting top level Premier League football without fans for a stretch is way better than no football at all,” he said. “I salute the league and the players for putting on such a great show, which the fans (and the commentator!) really needed right now.”
White and the rest of NBC’s Premier League crew wrap up the season with Championship Sunday, when all 10 matches take place at the same time. It also wraps up a 40-day stretch in which White will have called 16 matches, a broadcasting task normally reserved for World Cups or the European championship.
Pierre Moossa, the coordinating producer for the network’s Premier League coverage, describes the past fiveplus weeks as an incredible whirlwind. With Sunday’s conclusion, games will have aired on NBC and NBCSN all but five days since play resumed on June 17.
“With how crazy and different the world is now, it has been strange and challenging,” he said. “The way we are doing shows now is different whether it is wearing masks or social distancing. The entire team is proud of getting through this restart.
“The entire production and on-air teams have been remarkable. Everyone rose to the occasion and delivered quality broadcasts. They were tasked with difficult circumstances and different workflows but there was no drop off.”
White said calling matches from empty stadiums hasn’t been as jarring as he originally thought. The first match he called didn’t have the taped crowd noise coming through the headset, which White said made the emptiness feel odd and echoey. Once he was able to hear crowd noise through his headset, it felt normal.
White did note that the Southampton-Manchester City game did prove to be a strange experience.
“Southampton were feverishly defending a 1-0 lead. I had the fake crowd noise cranked up in my headphones and the game was so intense that for a while there I was completely lost in the experience,” White said. “Southampton defended with such commitment and tenacity that I simply forgot that there were no fans in the stadium. After the final whistle, (commentator) Lee Dixon and I took our headphones off and were stunned by the silence.”
While the addition of crowd noise has had split reactions, Moossa said it enhanced the experience and that those who didn’t want it could watch a feed online without crowd noise.
The other thing that stands out during the restart for White is seeing Christian Pulisic elevated himself up to the higher echelons of Premier League players. The American standout has four goals and two assists since the restart.
“He’s gone from a player with ‘potential’ to Chelsea fans losing their minds if he doesn’t start, so watching his journey is going to be fascinating,” White said.