Super Bowl Opening Night, formerly known as Media Day, is no longer a simple press conference. It's a full-blown event, complete with hype videos, marching bands, and eager fans, all creating an atmosphere that's both grand and bizarre.
The music is booming, the lights are turned down low. The series of customary hype videos have played, and the crowd is being egged on to cheer by the stadium hosts. A marching band takes the field as the tension rises. Finally, the players take the field and it’s time. The press conference s can finally begin! Super Bowl Opening Night , the event formerly known as Media Day , is what happens when a usually dull press gathering becomes an audience-friendly spectacle.
What was once a Tuesday afternoon event full of reporters asking about football with the occasional silliness is now a full-blown Monday night event, complete with all the trappings of the build-up to a NFL football game. Except, you know – it’s basically a press conference. Super Bowl Opening Night is a bewildering sight of grandeur, spectacle and the mundane business of people asking other people questions. And yet, there were still thousands of screaming fans inside of the cavernous Caesars Superdome hoping to get a glimpse of their heroes and maybe score an autograph or a selfie. The first loud cheer of the night set the tone for this intrepid reporter. As the media walks onto the field about 20 minutes before the Philadelphia Eagles are set to take their place under the lights, a big cheer goes up. The target of those screams: Guillermo Rodriguez, Jimmy Kimmel’s lovable sidekick on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The scene is reminiscent of the early stages of a music festival. The crowd – thousands strong but still not even filling one side of the lower bowl of the more than 75,000 seats in the Superdome – is enthusiastic but sparse. Explosions of color all around the iconic dome that’s hosting its 11th edition of the Super Bowl – those New Orleans mainstays of purple, green and yellow – make up for the dimness. The Soul Rebels, a New Orleans-based brass band, are filling the place with music but the lack of people in all those seats means the sound bounces around like a fumbled football. The field itself is protected from the mass of reporters and other media figures who are milling the sidelines, save for the stage that the Rebels are playing on. The figures on the sideline have such an incredible range that it almost has to be seen to be believed. There are the grizzled reporters who have been doing this for decades. There are Super Bowl rookies staring around the place with eyes as wide as dinner plates (this reporter falls into that camp), there are members of the international media who have flown from around the world to be here. And there’s also a guy dressed like the Genie from Disney’s “Aladdin,” encouraging players to make a wish with his face painted completely blue. There’s even two guys dressed up like Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, Aloha shirt and all. Before the Eagles enter, the cheerleaders from both teams perform a mostly coordinated routine alongside their teams’ mascots. A hype video plays, with bass so intense that chests are rattling all around the Superdome. There’s a slight break in programming before yet another hype video plays. Once that’s finished, the St. Augustine High School Purple Knights Marching Band begins to play and walks onto the playing surface, trailed by the Eagles in their all-white Super Bowl sweatsuits. If the goal was to build the atmosphere to a fever pitch, the Eagles – calmly walking onto the stage set up between the 30 and 40-yard lines – did not get the memo. Their vibe could not be more different than the spectacle that preceded them. With that, the players disperse to their assigned podium or mill about on the sidelines of the field as the questions begin to fly. It’s not exactly the most peaceful work environment – music continues to boom through the sound system whenever interviews from other podiums are not being shown on the big screen, also at top volume. It makes it nearly impossible to hear the questions being asked or the answers being given unless you’re right next to a speaker or the person you’re interviewing. The topics of the Q-and-As themselves veer wildly. One minute, a player is giving a detailed answer about all the work it took for him to be on a team that’s going to the Super Bowl. In the next, they’re being ambushed by a Nickelodeon social media producer to name five cartoon characters in less than 30 seconds. At one point, Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley ended up with a Nickelodeon blimp for reasons that were not clear thanks to the din in the room. Players and coaches roam all over the sidelines for interviews, but occasionally they have the option of stopping for a quick game of Madden in a setup in the southeast corner of the field
Super Bowl Opening Night Media Day NFL Philadelphia Eagles Kansas City Chiefs Press Conference
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Chiefs and Eagles shouldn't be fazed by the zany extravaganza of Super Bowl opening nightBefore Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs take on Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl, they have to tackle the media repeatedly. The wild week kicks off Monday at Super Bowl opening night, a zany extravaganza that could overwhelm teams that aren’t used to the circus atmosphere.
Read more »
Super Bowl LIX Opening Night: All You Need to KnowSuper Bowl LIX Opening Night is here! Get all the details about the event, including how to watch, potential talking points, and key players to watch.
Read more »
Super Bowl LVII Opening Night: Chiefs Aim for History, Eagles Seek RedemptionThe Super Bowl LVII Opening Night festivities are underway in New Orleans. The Kansas City Chiefs, seeking a historic three-peat, and the Philadelphia Eagles, hungry for redemption, face the media and fans alike.
Read more »
How to watch Super Bowl 59 Opening Night: Time, TV channel, FREE live streamCoaches and players from the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs will greet media and fans Monday night in New Orleans for the NFL’s Opening Night event to kick off a full week of festivities around Super Bowl 59.
Read more »
Travis Kelce Drew a Massive Crowd of Media on Super Bowl Opening NightKelce had a massive crowd of media around him on Super Bowl LIX opening night.
Read more »
Jameis Winston's best moments from Super Bowl Opening NightJameis Winston was on the scene for FOX Sports as a special digital correspondent at Super Bowl Opening Night. Here are his best moments.
Read more »