Joe Buck will be focused on the Bears and Vikings when he broadcasts the first “Monday Night Football” game this season from Soldier Field. But in the back of his mind, he’s keenly aware of what’s coming next season.
The broadcast Monday represents the culmination of ESPN’s yearslong effort to assemble a crew worthy of producing and calling the network’s first Super Bowl in 2027. Though Buck has called six of them, he knows that game will be different.
“I feel that. I’ve felt that since day one at ESPN,” said Buck, who with longtime partner and Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman left Fox to join ESPN in 2022. “I’ve felt like there’s been this five-year slow burn that everybody there has been aware of. And any changes that have been made have all been with an eye on getting better and being at our best for the biggest day in television every year, which is the Super Bowl.”
ESPN entered the Super Bowl rotation as part of the NFL’s rights agreement in 2021, getting the game after the 2026 and 2030 seasons. The network named Buck and Aikman its Super Bowl broadcasters upon their arrival. In March, ESPN hired Artie Kempner from Fox to be its director for “Monday Night Football” and the Super Bowl. And in July, the network added Laura Rutledge as a second sideline reporter with Lisa Salters.
“We’re in a really good place,” said Mark Gross, ESPN’s vice president of production who oversees “MNF.” “We have about 40 games until our Super Bowl. There’s some early work being done in Super Bowl planning now, but we realize that we have a full season ahead before we can think that much about the Super Bowl.”
Kempner was ESPN’s most significant addition outside of Buck and Aikman. He was part of Fox’s NFL coverage since 1994 and directed two Super Bowls, both with Buck and Aikman. Kempner will work alongside Steve Ackels, a longtime ESPN producer who moved to “MNF” in 2023. Gross said Kempner already is making an impact.
“It’s opened our eyes to, there’s a better way,” Gross said. “We don’t have to get complicated; it’s a football game. Sometimes we run the risk of making it more difficult than it needs to be, and I think Artie has been great so far just about, simplicity works.”
Buck recalled Kempner’s work in Super Bowl XLII when Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress caught the go-ahead touchdown pass with 35 seconds left to hand the Patriots their first loss of the season. Buck called it a clinic on how to direct a big game.
“Artie is taking a shot of Burress and then Eli [Manning] and then [Giants coach] Tom Coughlin and then a mad [Patriots coach] Bill Belichick and then [Tom] Brady getting his helmet on, Peyton Manning cheering on his brother from a suite,” Buck said. “You didn’t need me to narrate it. I think it’s the best minute and a half of directing that I’ve ever been a small part of.”
The addition of Rutledge, the host of ESPN’s weekday show “NFL Live,” will allow for her and Salters to each cover a team. Rutledge has joined the crew for marquee regular-season and playoff games.
Gross said the game production, which will be enhanced by a new production truck, will include some new wrinkles. Viewers will see more and quicker “tagging” of players, identifying whom Aikman is analyzing in a replay. Gross also wants the broadcast to give viewers a better sense of place beyond the typical sights.
“We’ve always gone with the attitude that most people watching may not ever get to Soldier Field,” Gross said. “So what can we provide? Let’s give the people at home a ticket to Soldier Field and the city of Chicago. I think we have the ability to go deeper than deep-dish pizza.”
As for the Vikings-Bears game, viewers can expect the broadcast to go deep on the quarterback matchup between 2024 first-round picks J.J. McCarthy and Caleb Williams, which is tailor-made for Aikman. McCarthy will make his first regular-season start after missing last season with a knee injury, and Williams is essentially starting over under new coach Ben Johnson.
“Troy is such a big under-center quarterback proponent,” Buck said. “Caleb was in shotgun last year 68% of the time. It limits what an offense can do when you’re in shotgun that much, according to my Hall of Fame partner. In the preseason games, they were just about 50-50, and I know Ben is big on getting the quarterback under center and having a more well-timed offense.”
ESPN likes the timing of the game to begin its march toward a historic moment.
“We’re really looking forward to starting in Chicago,” Gross said. “Great stadium in a great city, great history, really good rivalry. It’s a really good Week 1 game for us, for sure.”
Remote patrol
Lisa Byington, Brock Vereen and Sydney Supple will call Northwestern’s game at 6:30 p.m. Friday against Western Illinois on Big Ten Network. Supple, who played softball for the Wildcats, will make her debut as a football sideline reporter after participating in the BTN Experience, which helps Big Ten student-athletes become broadcasters.
• Dave Pasch, former Bears defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek and Marquee Sports Network’s Taylor McGregor will call Illinois’ game at 11 a.m. Saturday at Duke on ESPN.
• Apple TV+ will carry the Cubs’ game Friday against the Nationals. Wayne Randazzo, Dontrelle Willis and Heidi Watney will call it. Coverage begins at 1 p.m.
• “Last Comiskey” director Matt Flesch released his documentary “Jeff Torborg: A Wonderful Baseball Life” on YouTube. It was produced by the former White Sox manager’s son Dale.