Even without the raucous crowds and Lee Corso’s on-set antics, ESPN’s “College GameDay” has found a way to retain its unique identity by traveling to college campuses across the country. A lot has changed on set and behind the scenes, and on the latest episode of “SBJ Unpacks: The Road Ahead,” our Andrew Levin pulls back the curtain on producing “GameDay” in '20 with ESPN VP/Production Seth Markman.
On how producers having to work remotely has changed the broadcast:
Markman: Preparation is the main thing that’s changed. You can’t replace the face-to-face meetings, the time that’s spent (together). … Rece Davis and Jim Gaiero, who’s our main producer, Rodney Perez, the director, and Drew Gallagher, the coordinating producer, they’ll spend the entire Friday in a meeting room together just bouncing ideas off each other, Rece writing the show, taking phone calls, and making changes together. It’s the camaraderie and the chemistry that exists between that group on a Friday that makes the show so much better every week. … You can’t replace that. That time doesn’t exist right now.
On whether they considered making “College GameDay” remote:
Markman: Out of all the shows that we have and maybe all the shows that are considered studio shows around the country, I’d say no show is going to be more affected by a pandemic than “College GameDay.” We love, we feed off, we’re reliant on the crowds behind us, the energy they bring, the scene that they’ve set for so many years. We knew right away we had a challenge. It wasn’t going to be a normal year for "College GameDay." We made the decision that the key was going to be to get as many of the guys together as possible, and then we made the next decision, which was we want to travel. We want the show on the road if it’s safe to do it because traveling to college campuses is really part of “GameDay's" DNA.
On how the process of choosing where to broadcast has changed:
Markman: We want to always be at the biggest game. That’s our mantra, but through the years, we’ve varied on that a little bit. It’s not just the clear cut, "Well what’s the biggest game on paper? What’s the best game?" We’ve gone to different places to experience different rivalries or different venues that we’ve never been to before over the years. We’ve never just gone based on the teams with the two highest rankings playing. But this year, we have to take in consideration Kirk Herbstreit, who’s such a huge part of our show, the glue to the show really and the sport. Based on what games he’s assigned on Saturdays, it’s a big deal to try from a logistical standpoint and just from a safety standpoint to make sure that we can get Kirk from wherever we choose “Gameday” to be to where his game assignment is.
