Fred Gaudelli
Executive Producer, NFL
“Regarded by many as TV’s greatest football producer,” wrote The New York Times Magazine, Fred Gaudelli is executive producer of NBC’s NFL coverage.
In January 2023, Gaudelli completed his 33rd and final season as the lead producer for an NFL primetime TV game. In that final season, he was the architect and served as executive producer of the debut of Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football package, which was produced as part of a collaboration with NBC Sports.
Before heading TNF on Prime Video, Gaudelli was the executive producer for the first 16 seasons of NBC Sunday Night Football, which culminated with Super Bowl LVI – and is the most-honored live sports series in U.S. media history. He continues to serve as an Executive Producer for NBC Sports.
At the Sports Emmy Awards in May 2024, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recognized Gaudelli with Silver Circle honors for 25 years of “distinguished service within the television industry, setting standards for achievement, mentoring, leadership and professional accolades.”
In May 2023, Gaudelli was named the recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, which is presented annually “in recognition of longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.” Gaudelli is the first game producer to receive the award.
SNF averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 21.4 million viewers in 2023 (including 19.9 million viewers as measured by Nielsen), ranking as primetime’s #1 TV show in all key metrics for an unprecedented 13th consecutive year – adding to its record for the most successive years atop the charts (since 1950), based on official live plus same day data provided by Nielsen.
In August 2020, Gaudelli was honored as a member of the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 for career-long excellence in the sports TV and media industry.
In 18 seasons on NBC (2006-23), Sunday Night Football won 30 Sports Emmys. Following the 2018 season, NBC SNF became the first-ever 10-time honoree for Outstanding Live Sports Series and won its 11th honor in the category following the most recent NFL season (2020). From the 2008-13 NFL seasons, Sunday Night Football won six consecutive Outstanding Live Sports Series honors – also a Sports Emmy record – and won again following the 2015-2018 and 2020 NFL seasons.
A 24-time Emmy Award winner, Gaudelli’s seven Super Bowls (XXXVII, XL, XLIII, XLVI, XLIX, LII, and LVI) include Super Bowl XLIX, which ranked as the most-watched program in U.S. TV history with an average of 114.4 million viewers. In that game on February 1, 2015, the New England Patriots posted a thrilling four-point victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Three years earlier on NBC, Super Bowl XLVI became the most-viewed program in U.S. television history at the time.
On August 4, 2017, NBC Sunday Night Football was honored with a display in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for “its record run as the #1 show in all of primetime television.”
NBC Sports promoted Gaudelli to executive producer of Sunday Night Football in June 2016, when he was also named the lead producer for the network’s Thursday Night Football series. The 2016 debut of the NBC/NFL Network Thursday Night Football series ranked as primetime’s #2 show in the 2016-17 TV season. The 2017 NBC/NFLN TNF slate ranked third among all primetime programs for the full TV season.
On November 16, 2017, NBC Sports, led by Gaudelli and director Drew Esocoff, presented the first NFL game with the primary live coverage coming from SkyCam. Three weeks earlier on October 22, NBC’s “dual” SkyCam coverage received widespread acclaim from viewers when it was pressed into action due to fog during Sunday Night Football. In that game, the Falcons-Patriots Super Bowl LI rematch, fog rolled into Gillette Stadium late in the first half. After halftime, SkyCam technology provided the best camera angles to offer consistent and clear views of the live action.
Prior to joining Sunday Night Football, Gaudelli spent five seasons as producer of ABC’s Monday Night Football, including producing Super Bowl XL and XXXVII. With Gaudelli as producer, Monday Night Football and the production of Super Bowl XXXVII were nominated for nine Emmy Awards, winning four, including Outstanding Live Sports Series in 2004 for MNF. He produced ESPN’s Sunday Night Football game telecasts from 1990 through 2000, with the show winning Outstanding Live Sports Series following the 2000 season.
Gaudelli introduced the critically acclaimed 1st & Ten technology, the electronically produced yellow line that appears to be painted across the field at the first down marker, the GoalPost Cam and the rotating clock/score box. In addition, he produced the first live sports telecast to use real-time polling data (via Enhanced TV) on all instant replay challenges. In 1997, Gaudelli oversaw ESPN’s day-to-day coverage of Major League Baseball, which won the CableACE Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series.
Named senior coordinating producer at ESPN in November 1996, Gaudelli oversaw day-to-day administration of the cable network’s National Football League telecasts, as well as the NFL Draft and X Games. He also served as senior producer of the ESPY Awards from 1998-2001. Gaudelli was named producer of ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage in 1990.
Upon joining ESPN’s remote production department in March of 1983, Gaudelli worked as an associate producer on a variety of sports, including college football, basketball and baseball, the USFL, the U.S. Olympic Festival and the NFL Draft. In 1986 he produced the network’s live Thursday night college football series. Additionally, while producing the 1988 College World Series, Gaudelli introduced the technique of live tracking the speed of pitches – a first on television. Prior to joining the remote production department, he worked in the network’s administration department.
A native of Harrison, N.Y., Gaudelli earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Long Island University/C.W. Post in 1982. He currently resides in Madison, Conn., and has a daughter, Reese.
