Editor’s Note: Annie Klaff is a current senior at Syracuse’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, studying broadcast and digital journalism. She is one of six students that were selected to go to Radio Row for Super Bowl Media Week this year in Las Vegas. Annie is also a current academic year intern for NBCSports.com’s Edit Desk Team. Here is her behind-the-scenes review of the week.
Hundreds of millions of people understand the hype of the Super Bowl, but what about the week leading up to it?
This gathering of all-time NFL greats and legends was heaven to any avid fan. Elite broadcasters were everywhere and the casual accessibility to Chiefs and 49ers players was incredible.
As if this excitement was not enough, drop Super Bowl LVIII into the heart of the gambling capital, Las Vegas. This season marks the first time ever that the Super Bowl took place in Vegas, highlighting how far the city has come in professional sports.
As a first time visitor to Vegas, I did not know what to expect. Vegas itself looks like a movie set. New York, Paris, palm trees and extravagant buildings all in one. My own hotel looked like an Egyptian pyramid, with one side of it made to resemble a Dorito chip. It’s difficult to put into words how to explain the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, but here is my best shot.
Monday, February 5th:
Radio Row at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center is set up in a massive room with over 100 tables for different radio stations, podcasts and networks. On the perimeter of the room were several major networks’ sets including NBC Sports.
At our Syracuse Newhouse Sports table, we set up for our live, three-hour radio show. When we weren’t on air for our daily show, we were filming video packages, interviewing athletes and broadcasters and creating social media posts.
Our very first radio guest was Syracuse grad and NBC’s own Ahmed Fareed. He was extremely candid with us, offered advice and discussed his time at ‘Cuse.
With our first radio show in the books, it was time to hop onto the media shuttle to Allegiant Stadium for opening night.
Simply put, Allegiant Stadium is one of the most breathtaking stadiums I’ve ever seen. Its jet black color and modern design was sleek and celestial. It reminded me of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London in terms of its futuristic design and shape. Just outside the stadium was the entire grass field being grown, prepped and manicured before it made its way inside.
We entered the stadium through the media entrance, which brought us right onto the field (turf at the time, so as not to harm the grass!).
We were told ahead of time that it would be difficult to interview the players/coaches on the podiums, so we should focus on players walking around the field instead. However, we ended up going for both and succeeded. Even if I had to hold the microphone straight up above me because of their size!
The Chiefs entered the stadium first, giving the media about an hour’s worth of interviews, followed by the 49ers who closed out the night.
I was in awe of being on the field with hundreds of media professionals and players. There were also about 23,000 fans in the stadium seats.
The story I was working on that day featured all of the returning starters from both teams in Super Bowl LIV, so I interviewed Chris Jones, Dre Greenlaw and more on whether they feel they have progressed since that matchup four years ago. Most notably, Deebo Samuel was a great interviewee, given his open nature.
Eleven returning starters from the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs return to the big stage four years later in Las Vegas. @annieklaff reviews how some of those starters feel they’ve progressed since then. #SuperBowlLVIII #VivaLasNewhouse pic.twitter.com/iDMCKeK0Ba
— Newhouse Sports Media Center (@NewhouseSports) February 6, 2024
To close out the night, I got the chance to speak with Syracuse alum Scott Hanson from NFL Network. He has such a warm and welcoming personality, and of course is extremely talented. Interviewing Hanson was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done (I would end up saying this many more times throughout the week).
Such an amazing broadcaster, human and interviewer!! Go Orange! https://t.co/4l3YR1kgmq
— Annie Klaff (@annieklaff) February 6, 2024
Tuesday, February 6th:
Following our second radio show, I had the chance to speak with Westwood One sideline reporter Laura Okmin on her broadcast journey and the organization she founded called GALvanize.
Her passion and efforts toward helping women in sports feel more comfortable is truly inspiring. I was proud to produce a video package on Okmin in honor of National Girls and Women in Sports Day! In the short amount of time spent at the GALvanize table, I received valuable advice and met several outstanding women.
Had so much fun speaking with sideline reporter for Westwood One @LauraOkmin! Such an inspiration for women in the field! #SuperBowlLVIII #VivaLasNewhouse https://t.co/jx8YqG5ecM pic.twitter.com/YFUh5ZiCC0
— Annie Klaff (@annieklaff) February 7, 2024
After chatting with Okmin, I spoke with Peter King, Myles Simmons, Michael Holley and Mike Florio at the NBC set. I asked them all about their experiences at Super Bowl Media Week, specific storylines and more.
This year was King’s 40th Super Bowl, so he’s certainly well-versed in this experience and industry.
“Every Super Bowl, something very strange is going to happen that you never saw coming. That’s one of the reasons why I really like covering football,” King said.
Holley’s first Super Bowl was in 2002. Since then, he’s noticed a shift towards more pop culture coverage rather than just sports talk at Radio Row.
For Holley, one particularly poignant moment was during Super Bowl LII when Tom Brady was asked a question about his father. Brady became choked up and Holley will forever view this as a reminder to the media that these athletes are human beings.
For Florio, his first Super Bowl was in 2009, which featured the Steelers and Cardinals in Tampa. Since then, all of the experiences have meshed together.
“Every Monday of Super Bowl week has the same feel. Tuesday has the same feel. Wednesday really starts to explode, when you see guests come through,” said Florio. “Different players from different teams and people from outside of sports come through. By Thursday and Friday it gets crazy.”
He was absolutely right about the progression of the week.
Tuesday night, the Super Bowl media party was held at the Grand Prix Plaza. This was my first true glimpse of how Las Vegas operates. Dozens of food vendors and a Lunar New Year celebration were outside the venue. The inside was even more extraordinary.
The first floor appeared to be a racing theme, featuring none other than Formula 1 and Shelby race cars. The second floor’s theme was ‘Old Vegas’ with dark lighting, gambling tables and a live band.
Then the top floor was a techno, electronic theme with bright lights, a DJ and even the Blue Man Group wandering around (this was the second time I had seen the Blue Man Group after opening night, and they’re honestly pretty scary up close).
Each floor had a balcony on which you could look over the Grand Prix Plaza, the Sphere and Las Vegas’ night lights. Little did I know how many more people would trickle into Radio Row the next day.
Wednesday, February 7th:
I thought that after opening night, I would’ve gotten used to seeing and speaking with star athletes and broadcasters. That hypothesis went out the window on Wednesday.
It’s safe to say that I was starstruck all day long. I saw two-time Super Bowl Champion with the Ravens and Eagles Torrey Smith. As a Ravens fan, I was thrilled to have him as our radio guest for about 20 minutes. It was unforgettable hearing from his perspective how it feels when the clock hits triple zeroes and he’s won the Super Bowl.
That morning, my classmate and I grabbed video footage on the strip and at the famous Las Vegas sign. These shots would serve as the backdrop of my story on the evolution and acceptance of Vegas as a professional sports destination.
I was passionate about this story because everyone I spoke with said that they would never have expected a Super Bowl to be held in Las Vegas, given the nature of gambling in the city.
How are NFL experts reacting to a Super Bowl being in Las Vegas? @annieklaff has your answer for the acceptance of sports gambling in the football world. #SuperBowlLVIII #VivaLasNewhouse pic.twitter.com/AMlRyXkefy
— Newhouse Sports Media Center (@NewhouseSports) February 9, 2024
At the end of Wednesday, we checked out the NFL Experience, which opened that day. Fans from all teams were there and the building was packed.
It was there when I started working on a video package which focused on Las Vegas Raiders fans, and how they feel about their biggest rivals playing at the Allegiant. This was certainly a fun one.
The Las Vegas Raiders have two of their least favorite teams playing in Allegiant Stadium this Sunday. @annieklaff found out how some of them are feeling about it. #SuperBowlLVIII #VivaLasNewhouse pic.twitter.com/A1rGHhAOKp
— Newhouse Sports Media Center (@NewhouseSports) February 10, 2024
Wednesday was extremely busy with editing videos, interviewing and meeting stars, but I was amazed by the amount of incredible people I shared the room with.
Thursday though, would be the true climax.
Thursday, February 8th:
Back at Radio Row bright and early, it was the loudest it had been all week. Everywhere you looked, you’d see a professional football player or legend of the game. I saw Dan Marino, Cam Newton, CJ Stroud, Rob Gronkowski, Eli Manning and the list goes on. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was even there on the Pat McAfee Show. I shook Jerry Rice’s hand, which may have covered almost half of my forearm.
I also had the chance to meet NBC’s Chris Simms and Matthew Berry.
Simms’ first time working at Radio Row was back in 2015. I was glad to hear that I wasn’t alone in being consistently stunned from the people I saw.
“I’m a fanboy,” said Simms. “I love seeing old players that I grew up with and I’m like ‘Oh my gosh, I remember him against my dad in 1987,’ so I love that. But equally, Justin Jefferson or Ja’Marr Chase come up and we talk to them and I go back to being a giddy kid again.”
“You never get used to it,” he added.
I was also lucky to watch NBC’s shows from behind the scenes with some incredible guests including CJ Mosley and Sam Hartman. I even met former Raven Matthew Judon. I was surprised to receive a hug from Judon and went back and forth in my head about whether to ask for a selfie…so a selfie it was!
Once our time at Radio Row was done for the day, I hopped on the media shuttle which would take us about 40 minutes away to the hotel where the San Francisco 49ers were staying. This is an important note, because it illustrates how much they wanted to keep players away from the strip and casinos. Damage control, if you will!
I went into the media availability knowing I needed sound bites from three people especially: head coach Kyle Shanahan, running back Christian McCaffrey and cornerback Charvarius Ward. I was working on two more stories to close out the week.
The first was a father-son duo video package on both Kyle and Mike Shanahan and Christian and Ed McCaffrey that I completed with a classmate of mine.
History is on the line at #SuperBowlLVIII. Two members of the @49ers can follow in their fathers' footsteps.@bespector and @annieklaff detail what to look out for tomorrow night.#VivaLasNewhouse pic.twitter.com/XL9yJNe4Cn
— Newhouse Sports Media Center (@NewhouseSports) February 10, 2024
The second was on Charvarius Ward and how it felt to play against his former team.
I discovered that Ward’s 1-year-old daughter played an important role in his stellar play this past season, where he led the NFL in pass breakups. His daughter, Amani, was born with Down syndrome and had open-heart surgery at four months old.
The interview with Ward was my first real experience witnessing an NFL player fully open up to me, trust me and share more about himself on a deeper level. This is a moment I will never forget.
Easily my favorite story I worked on all week! @itslilmooney was fantastic to interview. https://t.co/3fba4xzvRQ
— Annie Klaff (@annieklaff) February 11, 2024
Despite the excitement of the first few days, the intimate setting for the Niners media availability was easily my favorite part of the whole week.
This would be our last night in Vegas before a red-eye flight the next day, so we treated ourselves to a nice dinner at the Bellagio. The celebrity presence did not end on the media room floor or field. Even at dinner, we saw famous golfers like Brooks Koepka.
Friday, February 9th:
The week felt like a whole month, but also only two days at the same time. Friday, Feb. 9th was very bittersweet because I was exhausted, but also couldn’t believe it was already over!
My Syracuse group and I had our final radio show for the week, got some more interviews and networked with those around us. The amount of people at Radio Row had died down a bit, but there were still plenty of famous people hopping on shows and walking around. Both Kyle Van Noy and Kyle Hamilton were just a few tables away from me.
We finished some of our editing and work for the day, I said goodbye to the very friendly and welcoming people I met at NBC Sports and then packed it up before heading to the airport.
There were lots of early mornings and late nights working, but it was worth it. I was surrounded by dedicated and talented people. Super Bowl Media Week was truly a remarkable one and I can only hope that there are many more to come.
Lastly, I was fortunate to receive a great deal of advice that I know will stick with me forever, but there’s one piece from Kevin Harlan that hits home. He told our group of Syracuse students to never lose sight of the dream we had when we were younger and first decided to pursue sports journalism.
He still has the dream now at 63 years old. I hope I do too
