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65-465: Founder Ed Sabol was a World War II veteran who worked selling topcoats after returning to the United States . In his spare time, he used a motion picture camera , received as a wedding gift, to record his son Steve's high school football games. Inspired by his work, Sabol founded a small film company called Blair Motion Pictures, named after his daughter Blair. Sabol won the bidding for

130-847: A remote broadcast television studio away from the sports venue. In North America, the on-air personality based in the studio is called the studio host . During their shows, the presenter/studio host may be joined by additional analysts or pundits, especially when showing highlights of various other matches (e.g. in 1985, Jim Nantz was the studio host for The Prudential College Football Report in Studio ;43 in New York for CBS Sports , and during his four-year tenure there [1985 through 1988 college football seasons], he had Pat Haden [in 1985] and Ara Parseghian [in 1987 and 1988] as his co-hosts/pundits). Various sports may have different commentator roles to cover situations unique to that sport. In

195-419: A sports announcer or sportscaster ) provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. Radio was the first medium for sports broadcasts, where the radio commentators had to describe the action in detail because the listeners could not see it for themselves. In the case of televised sports coverage, commentators are presented as a voiceover , with images of

260-523: A broadcaster is particularly renowned ( Rick Jeanneret 's hockey telecasts, for example, were simulcast on radio and television from 1997 until his 2022 retirement). The analyst or color commentator provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics, strategy on the teams and athletes, and occasionally anecdotes or light humor. They are usually former athletes or coaches in their respective sports, although there are some exceptions. The term "color" refers to levity and insight provided by

325-422: A play-by-play announcer for WWE since 1999, has also portrayed this role for most of his announcing career. From 2010 to 2012, Cole served as a heel announcer, showing arrogance and contempt for faces and more sympathy for the heels (partially due to bullying from other face wrestlers, and jealousy from on-screen authority figures and other commentators). However, after Lawler suffered a legitimate heart attack on

390-710: A staple of Inside the NFL for its entire run, starting at HBO in 1977 and going on to air on Showtime and Paramount+ through to its current home at The CW . NFL Films also produced for Showtime the five-part miniseries Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League , which aired in the fall of 2009 as part of the American Football League 50th anniversary celebration. NFL Films produces an annual highlight film for each team every season, distributed by home video . If

455-414: A team had a good year, the film often revels in each victory, while breezing through, or skipping altogether, losses during the season. Inversely, if a team suffered through a poor season, the highlights commonly still attempt to show the team in a good light, however difficult that may be. Losses and pitiful play is commonly, and conveniently, edited out, leaving only isolated moments of success. This prompts

520-684: Is World War II." In 1995, he officially retired from NFL Films in his role as president and chairman. In 1996, he was elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame . On February 5, 2011, Sabol was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio . Sabol died on February 9, 2015, at his home in Arizona. Play-by-play In sports broadcasting , a sports commentator (also known as

585-558: Is a general term for any type of commentator in a sports broadcast. It may also refer to a sports talk show host or a newscaster covering sports news. In video games , and particularly esports , commentators are often called shout-casters ; this term is derived from Shoutcast , an internet audio streaming plugin and protocol associated with the Winamp media player. They are also sometimes referred to as simply casters . While sports broadcasts took place from 1912, Florent Gibson of

650-544: Is a much less distinct division between play-by-play and color commentary, although two-man commentary teams usually feature an enthusiast with formal journalistic training but little or no competitive experience leading the commentary, and an expert former (or current) competitor following up with analysis or summary. There are however exceptions to this—most of the United Kingdom's leading cricket and snooker commentators are former professionals in their sports, while

715-460: Is the primary speaker on the broadcast. Broadcasters in this role are adept at being articulate and carry an ability to describe each play or event of an often-fast-moving sporting event. The play-by-play announcer is meant to convey the event as it is carried out. Because of their skill level, commentators like Al Michaels , Brian Anderson , Ian Eagle , Kevin Harlan , Jim Nantz , and Joe Buck in

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780-434: Is typical for there to be multiple pit reporters , covering the event from along the pit road. Their responsibilities include covering breaking news trackside, probing crew chiefs and other team leaders about strategy, and commentating on pit stops from along the pit wall. On occasion in motorsport, the reporter on the sideline is an understudy to the lead commentator, as Fox NASCAR has used this tactic numerous times based on

845-639: The Monday Night Football booth in 2001 caused what Miller himself described as a "maelstrom" of perplexed reviews. Although the combination of a play-by-play announcer and color commentator is now considered the standard, it was much more common for a broadcast to have only one play-by-play announcer working alone. Vin Scully , longtime announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was one of the few examples of this practice lasting into

910-728: The Pittsburgh Post newspaper broadcast the first sports commentary in April 1921, covering the fight between Johnny Ray and Johnny "Hutch" Dundee at the Motor Square Garden , Pittsburgh. One of the highest-paid sportscasters in the United States is Tony Romo , a former NFL quarterback and professional golfer who serves as lead color analyst for the NFL on CBS ; Romo earns $ 17,000,000 per year for his contributions to

975-526: The American Football League (AFL) in 1968 , ostensibly under a newly established "AFL Films" division. In reality, "AFL Films" crews these were simply regular NFL Films personnel wearing separate jackets to appease AFL loyalists. On August 6, 2011, Ed Sabol was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a major contributor to the National Football League. Sabol died on February 9, 2015, at his home in Arizona. Much has been made of

1040-703: The World Series ( MLB Productions ). It also produced the video for Journey 's 1983 hit single " Faithfully ". NFL Films also has worked with Volkswagen Group in producing Audi's Truth in 24 series about Audi's efforts at the 24 Hours of Le Mans using the signature style to package and sell the marque's efforts in France. NFL Films has also produced television commercials for convenience store chain Sheetz . The company has also done films for major college football programs, such as Colorado State University ;

1105-532: The playing field or court . The sideline reporter typically makes live updates on injuries and breaking news or conducts player interviews while players are on the field or court because the play-by-play broadcaster and color commentator must remain in their broadcast booth. Sideline reporters are often granted inside information about an important update, such as injury because they have the credentials necessary to do so. In cases of big events, teams consisting of many sideline reporters are placed strategically so that

1170-413: The "heel sympathizer" for color commentary in wrestling. Jerry "The King" Lawler later made a successful transition into the same role, though Lawler has since shown more sympathy for faces, partially due to his popularity with fans after a forty-year career. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Macho Man" Randy Savage pioneered the "babyface sympathizer" for color commentary in wrestling. Michael Cole , as

1235-439: The 2010s, as popularized by Fox, American football broadcasts began to increasingly employ rules analysts to explain penalties and controversial calls and analyze instant replay reviews to predict whether a call will or will not be overturned. This helps viewers who may not understand some of the rules or calls, understand further. These analysts are typically former referees . In North American English , sportscaster

1300-444: The 21st century until he retired in 2016. The three-person booth is a format used on Monday Night Football , in which there are two color commentators, usually one being a former player or coach and the other being an outsider, such as a journalist ( Howard Cosell was one long-running example) or a comedian (such as the before mentioned Dennis Miller). A sideline reporter assists a sports broadcasting crew with sideline coverage of

1365-420: The 21st century. Radio and television play-by-play techniques involve slightly different approaches; radio broadcasts typically require the play-by-play host to say more to verbally convey the on-field activity that cannot be seen by the radio audience. It is unusual to have radio and television broadcasts share the same play-by-play commentator for the same event, except in cases of low production budgets or when

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1430-514: The Films style. Salon.com television critic, Matt Zoller Seitz, has called NFL Films "the greatest in-house P.R. machine in pro sports history...an outfit that could make even a tedious stalemate seem as momentous as the battle for the Alamo ." NFL Films productions follow certain patterns. Film is mostly used. One camera is dedicated entirely to slow motion shots and microphones are present on

1495-503: The League would return the document to him. Spence alleged that NFL Films claimed that his music was "stolen" and signing the document would empower them to protect the music in court. NFL Films operates its own in-house 16mm and 35mm Color Negative Processing Lab. This enables the film that is shot at each game to be rushed back to the Mt. Laurel facility and processed immediately so as to give

1560-404: The NFL's sponsors, including Sprint Nextel and Burger King . NFL Films has won 112 Sports Emmys . Sam Spence was long involved in a controversial situation with the NFL regarding the rights to perform or use his music in any media outlets. In an interview, Spence reported he was convinced to sign a contract that relinquished all of the rights to his music to NFL Films under the promise that

1625-584: The September 10, 2012 episode of Raw , Cole broke character and continued to provide updates on his colleague's condition whilst simultaneously calling the action. His professionalism in the situation led to a slow babyface transition, which was cemented when the two men hugged in the ring upon Lawler's return to commentating two month later. In some cases, commentators are also active managers for wrestlers, usually following continuity as heels. Former Extreme Championship Wrestling color commentator Cyrus

1690-762: The U.S, David Coleman in the UK, and Bruce McAvaney in Australia may have careers in which they call several different sports at one time or another. Other main commentators may, however, only call one sport ( Joe Rogan for example announces only one sport which is Mixed Martial Arts, specifically the UFC organization and Peter Drury for the Premier League Football Association). The vast majority of play-by-play announcers are male; female play-by-play announcers had not seen sustained employment until

1755-618: The act as violating the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution . The court ruled that the Yankees organization devise a plan to protect the players of their privacy while female sportswriters conducted interviews, suggesting the use of towels. After the access of allowing women in was put into effect, the Yankees organization allowed reporters to spend ten minutes interviewing players and

1820-404: The analyst. The most common format for a sports broadcast is to have an analyst/color commentator work alongside the main/play-by-play announcer. An example is NBC Sunday Night Football in the United States, which is called by color commentator Cris Collinsworth , a former NFL receiver, and play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico , a professional announcer. In the United Kingdom, however, there

1885-427: The career of Cup lead Mike Joy, a former pit reporter. Those who made the switch included Steve Byrnes (Truck Series, 2014), Vince Welch (Truck Series since late 2015), and Adam Alexander (who did Cup for Fox-produced TNT broadcasts from 2010–14, Xfinity on Fox since 2015) did the same too. In British sports broadcasting, the presenter of a sports broadcast is usually distinct from the commentator, and often based in

1950-436: The company's 1968 Minnesota Vikings season highlight reel and also the psychedelic-flavored jazz track "Artful Dodger" on the film recap of Super Bowl V , specifically during the montage which shows Johnny Unitas 's 75-yard touchdown pass to John Mackey which was tipped in flight by Eddie Hinton and Mel Renfro before landing in the hands of Mackey. The company also makes prolific use of footage of players and coaches in

2015-775: The company's 1977 film on CSU's football program used John Denver 's song " Rocky Mountain High " as well as an instrumental cover of The Beatles ' song " Tell Me What You See ", and noted alumni of the team who had gone on to NFL careers, such as Bill Larson of the Lions and Bill Kennedy of the Colts , Kevin McClain of the Rams , and Greg Stamrick of the Oilers . NFL Films' distinctive style has been parodied in numerous commercials, particularly for

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2080-599: The contest shown on viewers' screens and sounds of the action and spectators heard in the background. Television commentators are rarely shown on screen during an event, though some networks choose to feature their announcers on camera either before or after the contest or briefly during breaks in the action. The main commentator , also called the play-by-play commentator or announcer in North America, blow-by-blow in combat sports coverage, lap-by-lap for motorsports coverage, or ball -by-ball for cricket coverage,

2145-735: The current host of NFL Films Presents ). NFL Films also produces the NFL Game of the Week , which showcases a previous week's game. ION Television purchased the rights to air Game of the Week during the 2007 season. Among other television programs, NFL Films is credited for producing NFL Total Access and much of the NFL Network 's programming output. NFL Films also has a dedicated channel on free over-the-top service Pluto TV that launched in August 2019. NFL Films' game highlights have been

2210-484: The entire processing lab. Those on morning tours can often watch as employees develop film for use in weekly shows. NFL Films Lab is also in charge of the archiving and maintenance of the vault. Containing over 100 continuous years of football footage, the vault houses all of the film that NFL Films has shot or acquired from other sources in its entire history. Currently, NFL Films is in the process of re-transferring all of its footage into high-definition format, although

2275-796: The field and the NFL Films facility, NFL Films and HBO follow one NFL team as they go through training camp, leading up to the beginning of the season. NFL Films also produces the Greatest Moments series, which details classic games from the 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, and 2000's (decade); the Lost Treasures series, which uses old NFL Films footage, which had previously never been shown on television, to look at football players, coaches, and referees; and NFL Films Presents , an umbrella title for other NFL Films productions that do not neatly fit an existing series ( Katie Nolan serves as

2340-405: The first series in 1969 to 1978 are unavailable. Source: Although NFL Films earns more than $ 50 million in revenue a year and is expanding at a double digit rate, compared to the $ 18 billion in revenue that the NFL earns from television alone, most consider this to be minor. The real value of NFL Films is how it packages and sells the game and many credit it as a key reason that the NFL has become

2405-478: The former Formula One racing commentator Murray Walker had no formal journalistic training and only limited racing experience of his own (he had come from an advertising background and his initial hiring was more of a comic double act than a traditional sports commentary pairing). In the United States, Pat Summerall , a former professional kicker, spent most of his broadcasting career as a play-by-play announcer. Comedian Dennis Miller 's short-lived run as part of

2470-419: The league's 14 owners, and in return would shoot all NFL games and produce an annual highlight film for each team. In June 1966, the NFL agreed with the rival American Football League to merge in 1970. One of the reasons the leagues initially remained separate entities was to give Sabol adequate time to expand NFL Films to service a significantly expanded league. Under the merger terms, NFL Films began covering

2535-474: The locker room after the game. With these techniques, NFL Films turns football games into events that mimic ballet , opera , and epic battles. Among the company's most famous creation is the poem and accompanying music cue " The Autumn Wind ", which have become official themes for the Las Vegas Raiders . One of NFL Films' most popular series is Hard Knocks . With production run entirely from

2600-461: The main commentator has many sources to turn to (for example some sideline reporters could be stationed in the dressing room area while others could be between the respective team benches). In the United States, sideline reporters are heavily restricted by NFL rules; in contrast, both the 2001 and 2020 incarnations of the XFL featured sideline reporters in a much more prominent role. In motorsports, it

2665-462: The men's locker room. Both were believed to have been the first women ever allowed to enter a professional men's locker room to conduct a post-game interview. Sport organizations began to follow in the NHL's footsteps and allowed for other female sportswriters to be given the same access as men sportswriters. It was not until the year 1977 when Melissa Ludtke , a sportswriter from Sports Illustrated ,

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2730-627: The most watched sports league in the United States. In addition to covering the National Football League, NFL Films has also ventured into other unrelated documentary films, such as documenting the Munich Olympics massacre for one of NBC 's Olympics telecasts and serving as back-up film photography for other major events, including the Stanley Cup Finals ( NHL Original Productions ), the NBA Finals ( NBA Entertainment ) and

2795-740: The network television broadcasters. In addition, NFL Films often uses multiple camera angles (with an emphasis on close-up shots that often exaggerate the speed of the players in real-time). The company's films also employ muscular orchestral scores from a wide variety of musicians, notably Sam Spence , Johnny Pearson (whose " Heavy Action " became the theme for Monday Night Football ) Frank Rothman, Ralph Dollimore, Udi Harpaz, Malcolm Lockyer , Jan Stoeckart (under his varied stage names such as Jack Trombey), Peter Reno , Paul Lewis, Prameela Tomashek, Dave Robidoux and Tom Hedden . The company's use of KPM Musichouse (Now KPM Music) tracks also notably included Syd Dale ; tracks include "Maelstrom" for

2860-819: The network. Jim Rome being the highest paid sports Broadcasters in The United States, making over 30,000,000 per year, Jim also has his own Sports talk show called The Jim Rome Show syndicated by CBS Sports Radio. In 1975, the National Hockey League (NHL) made headlines when two coaches of the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal allowed Robin Herman ( The New York Times ) and Marcelle St. Cyr ( CKLM radio in Montreal) access into

2925-460: The original film will always be kept as it's likely to outlast tape medium in terms of degradation. 39°57′33″N 74°53′52″W  /  39.9591°N 74.8977°W  / 39.9591; -74.8977 Ed Sabol Edwin Milton Sabol (September 11, 1916 – February 9, 2015) was an American filmmaker and the founder (with his son Steve Sabol , among others) of NFL Films . He

2990-416: The play-by-play announcer, who is more or less the "voice of the fans" as well as " babyface sympathizers " (or supporters of the "good guys"). Though both are supposed to show neutral stance while announcing, the color commentators (especially when they support heels) are usually more blatant about their stance than the play-by-play announcers. Jesse "The Body" Ventura and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan pioneered

3055-547: The presence of NFL Films, there would be no surviving footage of the early Super Bowls . In comparison, other sports that lacked the film resources that the NFL had to have archives missing up through the 1970s, with much of the time before that preserved only by Canadian television broadcasters. For instance, in Major League Baseball , the broadcast of many World Series games before 1975 have been lost; nearly all broadcasts of League Championship Series from

3120-488: The production team the maximum amount of time to produce its weekly shows. The lab is open to the public for development needs. Clients include feature length and short films shot on location in Philadelphia as well as students at local universities. The current lab is the third incarnation. The original lab was located in a building next to NFL Films original offices at 230 N 13th St in Philadelphia. The second lab

3185-443: The quarterback lining up behind the guard instead of the center, disorganization, outtakes and silly narration. The presence of NFL Films' cameras allowed for the preservation of video footage from many of the NFL's 1960s-era games in an era when sports telecasts were either broadcast live without any recording or whose films and tapes were destroyed and recycled for later use. This practice did not fully stop until 1978 . Without

3250-423: The rights to film the 1962 NFL championship game for $ 5,000, double the bid for the 1961 championship game . The film of that game so impressed NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle , he asked the owners of the NFL to agree to buy out Sabol's company. Although the owners rejected Rozelle's proposal in 1964, they agreed a year later and renamed Sabol's company NFL Films . He received $ 20,000 in seed money from each of

3315-525: The sidelines and near the field to pick up both the sounds of the game as well as the talk on the sidelines. The narrators have deep, powerful, baritone voices. Narrators have usually been from the Philadelphia metropolitan area, with well-known announcers such as Jefferson Kaye , Harry Kalas , John Facenda , Andy Musser , Jack Whitaker , William Woodson , and current announcer Scott Graham , all having narrated NFL Films presentations. J.K. Simmons

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3380-499: The spinning football as it travels from the quarterback's hand to the receiver. This shot usually consists of showing the quarterback throwing the football, then the camera zooming in to focus on the spinning ball, as the ball starts to descend, the camera zooms out, showing the result of the ball landing into the receiver's hands. NFL Films also dubs sound bites of local radio broadcasts over key plays, because radio announcers are typically more enthusiastic about their home teams than are

3445-515: The team in question. Examples include the 1985 , 2000 , and 2001 Oakland Raiders season reviews being narrated by actor and former Raiders player Carl Weathers . Former Giant Frank Gifford periodically narrated New York Giants season reviews (notably the company's throwback -themed 2013 season recap ) until he died in 2015, and ex-Giant's teammate Pat Summerall narrated highlight films for many teams until he died in 2013. New England Patriots play-by-play announcer Gil Santos narrated

3510-437: The team's PA announcer at Acrisure Stadium and continues to do so today. (Richert is also the brother-in-law to Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino .) Other programming such as "NFL Films Presents" and its Super Bowl Recap hosted by Carissa Thompson has been narrated by veteran actor and voice actor Leonard Dozier. The style of film has been called tight on the spiral , a reference to the frequently-used slow-motion shot of

3575-424: The viewer to not realize how bad the team might have been. Most films conclude by portraying teams optimistically for the upcoming season, whether founded or not. The Sabols have used NFL Films to showcase their sense of humour. This is the case in the series titled, Football Follies . The Follies use blooper plays, such as fumbles, dropped passes, deflected or bobbled passes, players slipping and falling, mascots,

3640-503: The year-in-review films of the 1974 , 1976 , and 1978 seasons, and New Orleans Saints films from their inception in 1967 through 1979 were narrated by Don Criqui , who called Saints games for the NFL on CBS in the team's early years, along with radio announcers Al Wester and Wayne Mack. Longtime KDKA radio & KDKA-TV personality Larry Richert often narrated films of the Pittsburgh Steelers prior to becoming

3705-632: Was given the assignment to cover the New York Yankees playoff series but was denied entry into the men's locker room. Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn and other officials chose to discriminate against her based on her sex. Knowing that this would put Sports Illustrated in a disadvantage from other publishers, Time Inc. and Ludtke filed a lawsuit against Kuhn. The lawsuit was taken to the United States District Court in 1978 where Judge Constance Baker Motley ruled

3770-456: Was housed in the center of the NFL Films offices at 330 Fellowship Rd in Mt. Laurel, NJ. That entire one-story building has since been razed and replaced with a modern 4 story office building. The third lab is located at the NFL Films current location in the Bishop's Gate industrial park in Mt. Laurel behind a two-story glass wall. This allows visitors to the offices to see the inner workings of

3835-582: Was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011 as a contributor due to his works with NFL Films. Sabol was born to a Jewish mother and Romanian father in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1916 and raised in Blairstown, New Jersey . While attending Blair Academy , he excelled in several sports, and set a World Interscholastic Swimming record in the 100-yard freestyle race. He continued his noted swimming career at Ohio State University . He

3900-493: Was known for having dual roles as a heel manager and a somewhat neutral commentator, and continues to do so during his clients' matches in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling . Acting as a commentator has also been used to keep injured wrestlers – such as Samoa Joe on Raw between late 2019 and April 2021 – in the public eye while recuperating. Special guest color commentators serve two purposes:

3965-566: Was selected for the 1936 Olympic team but refused to participate because of the games being held in Nazi Germany . He had some success in the theater as an actor, appearing on Broadway for the production of Where Do We Go from Here . He served in World War II, and upon returning to civilian life, worked as a clothing salesman out of his father-in-law's factory. Sabol founded Blair Motion Pictures in 1962 . Its first major contract

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4030-400: Was tapped to narrate the company's one-hour recap of the 16–0 regular season of the 2007 New England Patriots , while actor Burt Lancaster was tabbed for narrations in 1969. Burl Ives was also called upon to narrate the 1971 Washington Redskins highlight film. Team-specific films such as "year-in-review films" have occasionally been narrated by broadcasters or personalities involved with

4095-534: Was then asked to leave and wait. Male reporters were unhappy with this and blamed the women from keeping them out and not being able to do their job. In 1990, the issue made its way back into the headlines when Lisa Olson made a public statement revealing that players from the New England Patriots had exposed themselves while interviews were being conducted. This prompted other female reporters who had been harassed to come forward. Their credibility

4160-533: Was to film the 1962 NFL Championship Game between the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers at Yankee Stadium in New York. In 1964 , Blair Motion Pictures became NFL Films, with an exclusive deal to preserve NFL games on film. It has been said by his son Steve Sabol , of NFL Films, "The only other human endeavor more thoroughly captured on 16-mm film than the National Football League

4225-411: Was undermined by accusations that female interviewers appeared as being "too friendly" or conversing too long with players as though they were flirting. Thus, the issue of sexism was still present, despite the equal access to men's locker rooms. Though not always the case, in professional wrestling , the color commentator is usually a " heel sympathizer " (or a supporter of the "bad guys") as opposed to

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