EFLI ropes in Sandy Grossman to direct games broadcasts

He says that he wants to help audiences in India understand the finer nuances of the game. “I watch cricket. I understand the basics of the game,but not the finer technicalities. Similarly American Football is a touch and contact sport. Sure it is easy to grasp,but once we start covering it in a manner in which even someone who has never heard of the game starts taking interest,things will change,” he says.

Taj Television-owned sports channel Ten Sports has signed an MoU with EFLI to broadcast the league in India. The first season will begin on November 12 this year and the season ends on February 18,2013 involving 56 matches in group stage and two play-offs.

Grossman has spent a major part of his career working with NFL before moving to Fox Sports where he spent 17 years working as a television director. His achievements as a broadcaster for FOX in the USA saw them successfully outbid CBS for broadcasting the NFL (National Football League). In fact he is also the only director to have directed 10 Super Bowl Championships. In addition he has also directed NBA games,which include the NBA (National Basketball Association) All-Star and NBA Finals Series,for 18 years for the CBS and five NHL (National Hockey League) Stanley Cup finals and All-Star games for FOX. The programmes in India will be broadcasted in five languages. “This is to reach out to the audiences outside the major metros. In fact we will be shooting the first game in Kolkata with 11 cameras. I will be teaching the production crews to take various camera angles,close-ups of players and mostly technical details. A normal NFL game broadcast lasts for three hours. We will br producing the EFLI games within two hours so that the audiences stay hooked and are not bored,” he adds.

Once in India,Grossman says he will sit down with the television broadcasters and discuss the manner in which they want the show to be broadcasted. He says,“I can promise one thing and that is it will be a fun show and people will like what we show them.” In addition to producing the games,Grossman’s second role will also be to train the crew in India. “I would like to make them self-sufficient so that they can produce the games on their own. Even the games that we broadcast prior to the actual series in November will include features such as multiple camera shots,slow motion replays to explain the plays,fewer commercials,include player profiles,game-day stats and more airtime for the games,” he says.

Former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner,American actor and producer Mark Wahlberg and former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka and ESPN NFL analyst Ron Jaworski are also investors in the league.The league will have 11 teams from India and one each from India and Sri Lanka – in the first year which includes Bangalore Warhawks,Bangladesh Tigers,Chennai Swarm,Colombo Lions,Delhi Defenders,Hyderabad Skykings,Kolkata Vipers,Mumbai Gladiators,Pune Marathas,and Punjab Warriors with two more teams yet to be named.

Having visited Mumbai a few days ago in February,Grossman says he is surprised to see American Football generate so much interest. He says,“I had seen a local high school tournament in Mumbai that was on American football and the rush that the students had was similar to a college game in the US. Also there is a lot of talk about colleges adapting the game into their curriculum,so the future looks promising.”