Reporters like ESPN's Adam Schefter are not allowed to tip picks before they are made on the broadcastESPN IMAGES
NFL Network Senior VP/Programming & Production Mark Quenzel and ESPN VP/Production Seth Markman said that "neither of the networks' reporters would tip picks before they are made on the broadcast" of the NFL's first virtual draft next week, according to Adam Hill of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. The April 23-25 broadcast "will look much different this year," as coaches, GMs and prospects "will conduct operations from their own homes." Markman: "I feel really confident, but it is damn complicated." He called the endeavor the "most challenging he's been a part of in the 27 years he's worked at the network." The joint coverage will air on ESPN and NFL Network and "utilize reports from both." ABC will have a "separate broadcast in prime time" for the first two nights Markman said that "only essential staff" will be in Bristol (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 4/15). In N.Y., Andrew Marchand reports despite the simulcast, the presentation "will have more of an ESPN feel." Quenzel said, "With all the technological hurdles, it just made sense to combine the broadcast." Markman said that pre-coronavirus, there "might be 20 or so people in the Bristol control room on draft night," and now the plan is to have "seven in the room next week" (N.Y. POST, 4/15).
