CBS Sports is set to unveil a new graphics package during the Super Bowl. Plus: ESPN plans to have a major on-site presence at the Super Bowl, and more sports media news.
CBS to unveil brand new graphics package for Super Bowl
CBS Sports plans to unveil a brand new base graphics package for Super Bowl 55, a network spokesman told Sports Media Watch. Its current look debuted on Super Bowl 50 in 2016. The new graphics package comes amidst a company-wide CBS rebrand that has been rolling out across the company’s various divisions since last fall. The rebrand includes a modified CBS Sports logo — which debuted on the broadcast network Saturday — replacing the boxed look in-use since the aforementioned 2016 Super Bowl.
It is typical for networks to unveil new graphics packages — either just for the NFL or across all sports — during the Super Bowl. CBS was a rare exception when it last carried the game two years ago. [CBS Sports PR]
ESPN plans major on-site presence for Super Bowl
ESPN plans to send its primary NFL game and studio teams — Steve Levy, Louis Riddick and Brian Griese of Monday Night Football, Suzy Kolber, Steve Young and Booger McFarland of Monday Night Countdown, Sam Ponder, Randy Moss, Tedy Bruschi, Matt Hasselbeck and Rex Ryan of Sunday NFL Countdown, and Laura Rutledge, Marcus Spears, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky of NFL Live — to Tampa for Super Bowl week. ESPN also had a significant on-site presence on the College Football Playoff, but has otherwise eschewed such travel since sports went on hiatus last March.
The Kolber and Ponder-led teams are scheduled to work ESPN’s four-hour Super Bowl pregame show next Sunday; Rutledge et al. have their usual NFL Live assignment next Thursday and Friday; Levy is set to host evening SportsCenter segments alongside Griese, Riddick and others. [ESPN PR 1.29]
Plus: ESPN news, Olympics, college football
ESPN is weighing a bid for rights to the NFL’s out-of-market Sunday Ticket package, with the intent of putting the games on ESPN+, according to The Information. Per the same report, ESPN is also looking to sell at least some portion of the X Games. … According to The Times of London, organizers for this summer’s scheduled Tokyo Summer Olympics are weighing a “large reduction in the number of journalists permitted to attend.” The Times previously reported that Japanese officials had come to the conclusion that the Olympics will need to be canceled; that report was later denied by a government spokesperson. … The ACC and SEC released their 2021 football schedules this week, with each conference set to begin over Labor Day weekend and conclude with championship games on the first weekend of December. All of the major conferences began and ended their 2020 seasons later than usual. [The Information 1.28, Times of London 1.29 via Sports Business Daily 1.29; ACC 1.28, SEC 1.27]
