With ABC joining in the proceedings this year, the NFL Draft will be an even bigger undertaking than it already was for the Walt Disney Company. In an interview with The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch, ESPN VP of event and studio production, Seth Markman says that the comapny’s focus will be on ensuring that ABC and ESPN offer viewers two very different products.
In order to do that, the largest production staff ever dedicated to the event will be in Nashville. The production staff of 600 is twice the size of the staff that covered the 2018 NFL. It is also larger than the production staff ESPN had on hand for Clemson’s win over Alabama at college football’s National Championship Game this year. “I think this shows how important we think this is and how much this is part of the DNA of our company,” Markham says.
As previously reported by multiple outlets, ESPN’s telecast will be anchored by its NFL analysts, while ABC’s coverage will feature Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts and American Idol’s Luke Bryan focusing on the human interest stories and ESPN’s College GameDay crew handling the football analysis.
Markman told Deitsch that he had a hard time deciding which network Kirk Herbstriet should appear on. Last year the College GameDay analyst was a part of ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage. This year though he will stay with the rest of his usual crew and appear on ABC. The only person who will appear on both the ABC and ESPN productions is draft analyst Todd McShay.
Both telecasts will feature the same reporters including Josina Anderson in Arizona, Dan Graziano in Oakland, Sal Paolantonio in New York with the Giants, Jeff Darlington in Miami, Dianna Russini in Washington, DC, and Jen Lada who will be in Gaithersburg, MD at a draft night party for Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins’s friends and family.
Behind the scenes, Disney has put in a lot of work as well. Markman says his staff has put together more than 600 highlight packages and more than 100 player personality bumps to go into and out of commercials. ESPN’s production alone will utilize 57 cameras and 70 microphones.
As for viewership, Markman told Deitsch that he doesn’t care how the audience is split between the two networks. “If a viewer is watching it on ESPN or ABC, we don’t care. As long as we are giving them the experience they want and they chose to watch it or one or the other, we will be happy.”
