SPORTS ILLUSTRATED PODCAST
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – While most will be in front of their televisions next Sunday enjoying one of the most watched sporting events around the world, one Pioneer alumnus will control all that you see and hear during the broadcast.
Fred Gaudelli '82, will produce his sixth Super Bowl on Feb. 4 when the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles battle for the coveted Lombardi Trophy in Minneapolis. Gaudelli was promoted to Executive Producer of "Sunday Night Football" and "Thursday Night Football" in June 2016 after serving as the lead producer for NFL primetime games for over 25 years and the producer of Sunday Night Football for over 10 seasons.
The last NFL championship game that Gaudelli produced came in Super Bowl XLIX between the Seattle Seahawks and Patriots in which Malcolm Butler famously intercepted a Russell Wilson pass on the goal-line to secure New England's fourth Super Bowl championship. That game is still the most-watched program in United States television history with an average of 114.4 million viewers.
Gaudelli is known for introducing groundbreaking innovations during NFL broadcasts, most notably 1st & Ten technology, the electronically produced yellow marker for first downs, along with the NFL's first ever broadcast with Skycam as the primary vantage point earlier this season. His productions have earned him multiple Emmy awards along with several CableACE awards.
Graduating from LIU Post with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in communication and media studies in 1982, Gaudelli had hopes of following the path of his idol Marv Albert and enter the sports field as an announcer, but after doing an internship with Metro Media in New York City, he found his calling as a producer.
As part of a preview for the Super Bowl next weekend, Gaudelli was featured on Sports Illustrated Media Podcast this week, as he joins Drew Esocoff, the Director of Sunday Night Football and Thursday Night Football, as the duo discusses the preparations for the event. According to Sports Illustrated, the two also discuss topics such as what worries them most about the broadcast, how preparation for the Super Bowl differs from other games, what plans are for a power outage or terrorist attack, how prop bets could affect the broadcast, and many other items during the 43-minute segment. The podcast can be found by clicking the link at the top of this article, or by searching "SI Media Podcast" on iTunes and selecting episode 158.
Super Bowl LII will air on NBC Sunday, Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m.