ESPN Deportes (US), which is putting the finishing touches on its advertising sales efforts, made a last-minute adjustment to its game plan for coverage of Super Bowl LV in Tampa on Feb. 7 after an announcer tested positive for COVID-19.
Ciro Procuna, the lead play-by-play announcer for ESPN coverage of "Sunday Night Football" in Latin America, will call the NFL championship game action, along with analyst Pablo Viruega and sideline reporter John Sutcliffe, following the COVID-19 diagnosis for Eduardo Varela, who was originally scheduled to call the game. ESPN Deportes secured U.S. rights to the game from the league and ViacomCBS Inc.'s CBS Sports, which does not have a Spanish-language outlet.
The substitution underscores the flexibility needed for sports programmers to navigate the pandemic. ESPN Deportes and ESPN International have relied heavily on cloud technology to keep their on-air talent and graphics together over the course of the pandemic, said Rodolfo Martinez, vice president of production for ESPN Deportes, in an interview. That will continue with the Super Bowl coverage.
Martinez said ESPN Deportes will receive a clean feed from CBS Sports on Feb. 7 and then will integrate its on-air team's remarks, including from correspondents Pilar Perez and Sebastian Martinez-Christensen, as well as various graphic packages and advertising insertions. ESPN Deportes has had 15 on-air personalities provide Super Bowl LV analysis this week from various locations, including Tampa.
With the NFL restricting the number of personnel able to travel to Tampa due to health and safety protocols, Martinez will be among those working the game from his home. ESPN Deportes and ESPN International will have some 50 people on the ground in Tampa, compared with about 120 for its Super Bowl LIII coverage in Atlanta and a similar contingent in Miami for last year's NFL title game.
Internationally, ESPN will air Super Bowl LV in 134 nations in five languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Dutch.
On game day, ESPN will present eight consecutive hours of live coverage, kicking off with "SportsCenter" at 3 p.m. ET, followed by a 90-minute pre-game show from Tampa at 4:30 p.m. ET, and an immediate post-game edition of "SportsCenter."
The pre-game show, "Super Bowl LV: La Previa," also will be streamed on the ESPN App and on ESPN Deportes' Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. pages, as well as on @NFLEspanol's YouTube channel.
A spokesperson for The Walt Disney Co. reported that ESPN Deportes' ad inventory is "well sold," with more than 20 advertisers across the auto, financial services, retail, beverage, media and entertainment, tech, telco and consumer packaged goods categories. The roster also includes ads from restaurants and travel companies, sectors that have been buffeted by the pandemic.
The network is welcoming three new advertisers to its roster for Super Bowl LV: DoorDash Inc., Audible and Rocket Mortgage.
Inside the Raymond James Stadium on game day, ESPN Deportes will supply an augmented reality experience. Upon scanning a QR code, ESPN Deportes anchor Cristina Alexander will pop up in a digital replica of the venue and deliver a special tune-in message, leading into Pitbull's "Get Ready," an extension of ESPN Deportes' Super Bowl creative promo. Fans will be able to share the message on their social platforms, while Alexander will highlight fans on her social platforms throughout the weekend.
For its coverage of Super Bowl 50, ESPN Deportes averaged 472,000 viewers, while its presentation of Super Bowl LIII ticked up to 473,000 viewers.
