To me and many others, Radio Row at Super Bowl is what it will always be called. Like the name change at the former Tappan Zee Bridge…now the Mario Cuomo…or the switch of a stadium name…old habits are hard to break. But alas, as USAA has done with the second biggest live media gathering each year (at the Army-Navy game) the massive melting pot of hawking, talking and walking is now more appropriately named Media Row…as those terrestrial stations continue to dwindle albeit slightly from year to year, and other platforms engaging in video, live audio and all other forms of media, continue to grow. Derek Futterman at Barrett Sports Media has a good take here by the way.
Let’s do the numbers. Of the 158 designated tables in the interior of the live media center, only 54 could be clearly defined as live broadcast “radio” stations. That does not include the large setups that rimmed the room for IHeart Radio, FOX Radio, ESPN, Cumulus and the like (ESPN was returning to the center of this media universe this year largely because of the massive presence of the Pat McAfee Show which had its own massive set) but the amount of streaming platforms, podcasts, news organizations and the like clearly indicted where the media world is going. Is that a bad thing? Probably not, as multimedia continues to emerge. Regardless it’s an evolution that some older types shake their head about…much like I’m sure back in the day all the print media looked at TV and radio and thought they were killing their business. Killing? Nope. Evolving for sure.
By the way the leader in the clubhouse for interviews appeared to be UFL Head of Football Operations Darryl Johnson, who logged at least 45 interviews in over two and a half days, easily outdistancing Tony Khan, Jaguars exec and head of AEW, who nailed 42 interviews in two days in Las Vegas last year. Another observation, the younger the athlete, no matter how small a presence he has on the field, the bigger the crowd he took along. Drew Bledsoe, Warren Moon, heck even Billie Jean King, who had a massive following for two days talking all things Dove, traveled smart and compact…one or two people. Third string tight end from xx team. lets make sure we have a dozen people…doing what, I ’m not sure. We overhead one veteran NFL player turn to a very young teammate on the rise, start laughing and say ”Trim the payroll dude! ” Older but wiser.
The foreign touch grows: One of the more important areas of growth reflective of the NFL plan was international outlets. While the UK and Mexico have had spots before, this year a record 26 outlets from countries from Australia to Saudi Arabia had spots collecting content. Where could your voice have resonated? Canada, Germany, Spain, the UK, Ireland, and yes…Panama…were found. This will probably continue to grow into the next few years as we head towards the Olympics and all around Flag Football around the world.
Randomness Rules The beauty of Radio Row is not the interviews, it has been the people, those you would see once a year, but also so many you would know, or know of, who you would cross paths with roaming the aisles of talk going on. While celebrity sighting were definately down from previous years, the random magician or with a media member you have only connected with on email or a call, and the partnerships and opportunities that came out of that encounter was really the beauty of what makes Media Row such a special event, and that was certainly back this year.
NIL is nil. An area we thought would rise for brands would be having high profile athletes activate with brands who are allegedly paying them big money correct? Nope. The use of Media Row for college athletes went from three or four current, and soon to be former, college athletes making the rounds in midweek to none this year. While we heard some were in and about the parties, if brands are looking for ROI, MR was a missed opportunity.
Stats Takes A Content Stance As Well: Once just background for fans and media outlets, prominent statistical platforms have also found their way to story tell on Media Row. Pro Football Focus and The 33rd Team both used the week to build relationships and talk data for their own platforms, showing again how expansive data and all the predictive numbers of the NFL can be as a stand-alone.
Student Stations Find Their Spots. This year we hit a new high for Radio Row schools…12…Penn State, Arizona State, Syracuse, Fordham, St. Bonaventure , Ithaca, Hofstra all had a prominent spot, with a few others visiting on select days. JA. Adande brought his students from Northwestern But where were locals other like Tulane? It is now a growing opportunity to bring in young new voices to capture content of all forms and give them a taste of the networking and the job opportunities…and even to have them share best practices with others. A great example is talk show host Jake Asman, whom I met six years ago while he was credentialed as a student at Ithaca. His career has grown, and it got its start on Media Row. Those young people are the future, why not let them in?
Thursday is the new Friday: It used to be that the primo crazy day was Friday on Media Row. While Friday does hit a peak around midday, the busiest day now appears to be Thursday. The reason? NFL Honors shift from Saturday to Friday now to Thursday gets many players in a day earlier, so why not knock out all your obilgations a day earlier. Even Tuesday, once uber quiet, has seen a pickup in activity for those looking to find a niche spot and get in and out…who knows what Monday may hold in the years to come!
Social sharing: Something that has grown for the good is the use of social tools for expanded storytelling. If you are ESPN San Antonio it’s great to have a Hall of Famer join you for a conversation, but when the HOF guy shares a picture on his social accounts, and tags the station, it amplifies the message and the narrative to a much wider audience. It also helps grow the presence of the midlevel players or celebs and spokespeople well beyond just an audio or video interview. A nuance, but a valuable one become more and more of the process, and that’s a good thing.
If it ain’t catered it ain’t journalism: Random pizza deliveries, Bounty Towels serving wings, bagel drops, and future site hosts not for the Super Bowl but for The Draft…this year it was Green Bay and Pittsburgh, all have realized that serving up some grub gets mentions and posts…let’s see what San Francisco will bring.
Lastly, here come the women: After years of wondering, it appears that the brand value of athletes who just happen to be women have started to take advantage of Media Row. Thursday and Friday saw WNBA players, MMA stars, some Olympians, the aforementioned Billie Jean King, women tied to the growth of Flag Football and even one commissioner, the NWSL’s Jessica Berman, in for some discussions. There was a great post by my longtime colleague Ann Wool on LinkedIn as well about the growth of women tied to the game in all aspects, worth your time to check it out.
There are always naysayers who question the value. But for the entrepreneurial, the networkers, the content gatherers, the value of Media Row for exposure is still beyond compare. What’s the next evolution? We will see, but for four days in NOLA, it was time well spent.
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