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ESPN will showcase Fort Worth's Sundance Square during next Super Bowl
12:43 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 21, 2010
By ERINN CONNOR / The Dallas Morning News
FORT WORTH -- ESPN will anchor its coverage of Super Bowl XLV from Sundance Square, putting Fort Worth's downtown entertainment district on display for the world for a week before the big game.
The sports giant will build an outdoor set, using as a backdrop Sundance Square's well-known color mural of a 19th century cattle drive.
"Thanks to ESPN being here, millions who have never visited Fort Worth can experience the city through the magic of TV," said Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief.
"ESPN gets a lively city as a partner, with a dynamic Texas backdrop."
Super Bowl XLV will be played on Feb. 6 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Fox is the network carrying the game.
But ESPN, as always, will air hours of related coverage leading up to the big game.
The network plans to set up shop in Sundance Square on Jan. 31.
Stephanie Druley, a senior coordinating producer for ESPN, said the network scouted possible locations throughout the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Without naming any cities that were rejected, she said of the Fort Worth locale: "Sundance Square met all of our needs as a great backdrop for television."
Another selling point, she said, was the proximity of shopping and dining spots.
"All the nearby businesses and restaurants will be convenient for our hundreds of employees onsite," she said.
ESPN's selection of Sundance Square as its broadcast headquarters was first reported in this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
In all, ESPN plans more than 80 hours of televised coverage from the square. ESPN radio shows, both local and national, will also broadcast from the location.
Among the ESPN shows that will originate there are "SportsCenter," "NFL Live," "Mike and Mike in the Morning," and, on the day of the Super Bowl, "Sunday NFL Countdown."
The public will be invited to Sundance Square to watch -- and be part of -- the action.
The last Super Bowl -- XLIV -- was played at Sun Life Stadium (formerly known as Joe Robbie Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Fla., a suburb of Miami. For that game, ESPN built an outdoor set miles away, at picturesque Lummus Park on South Beach.
When Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and other North Texas business and civic leaders submitted their bid to host Super Bowl XLV, they did so with the intention of spreading the many events that surround the game among area cities. Indeed, the local host committee is formally known as the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee.
The Dallas Convention Center, for example, will host the NFL Experience, a sort of interactive theme park that the National Football League creates every year around the Super Bowl. Dallas will also be home to the Super Bowl media center. And hotels throughout the region have been designated to house the various groups -- from teams to league officials to corporate sponsors -- that will descend on North Texas for the Super Bowl
12:43 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 21, 2010
By ERINN CONNOR / The Dallas Morning News
FORT WORTH -- ESPN will anchor its coverage of Super Bowl XLV from Sundance Square, putting Fort Worth's downtown entertainment district on display for the world for a week before the big game.
The sports giant will build an outdoor set, using as a backdrop Sundance Square's well-known color mural of a 19th century cattle drive.
"Thanks to ESPN being here, millions who have never visited Fort Worth can experience the city through the magic of TV," said Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief.
"ESPN gets a lively city as a partner, with a dynamic Texas backdrop."
Super Bowl XLV will be played on Feb. 6 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Fox is the network carrying the game.
But ESPN, as always, will air hours of related coverage leading up to the big game.
The network plans to set up shop in Sundance Square on Jan. 31.
Stephanie Druley, a senior coordinating producer for ESPN, said the network scouted possible locations throughout the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Without naming any cities that were rejected, she said of the Fort Worth locale: "Sundance Square met all of our needs as a great backdrop for television."
Another selling point, she said, was the proximity of shopping and dining spots.
"All the nearby businesses and restaurants will be convenient for our hundreds of employees onsite," she said.
ESPN's selection of Sundance Square as its broadcast headquarters was first reported in this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
In all, ESPN plans more than 80 hours of televised coverage from the square. ESPN radio shows, both local and national, will also broadcast from the location.
Among the ESPN shows that will originate there are "SportsCenter," "NFL Live," "Mike and Mike in the Morning," and, on the day of the Super Bowl, "Sunday NFL Countdown."
The public will be invited to Sundance Square to watch -- and be part of -- the action.
The last Super Bowl -- XLIV -- was played at Sun Life Stadium (formerly known as Joe Robbie Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Fla., a suburb of Miami. For that game, ESPN built an outdoor set miles away, at picturesque Lummus Park on South Beach.
When Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and other North Texas business and civic leaders submitted their bid to host Super Bowl XLV, they did so with the intention of spreading the many events that surround the game among area cities. Indeed, the local host committee is formally known as the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee.
The Dallas Convention Center, for example, will host the NFL Experience, a sort of interactive theme park that the National Football League creates every year around the Super Bowl. Dallas will also be home to the Super Bowl media center. And hotels throughout the region have been designated to house the various groups -- from teams to league officials to corporate sponsors -- that will descend on North Texas for the Super Bowl