CFP National Championship 2024: Van Wagner Launches Busy Year of In-Venue Shows With Title Tilt in Space City

Crew returns to Houston nine months after producing the 2023 NCAA Men’s Final Four

At college football’s biggest game, two fanbases — the University of Michigan’s and the University of Washington’s — will descend on NRG Stadium in Houston to cheer on their boys on the gridiron. To supplement and, basically, even create their excitement and passion at the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship, the Van Wagner in-venue–production team will deliver engaging and creative content with videoboards and technologies deployed less than a year ago at the 2023 NCAA Men’s Final Four.

“It definitely helps [being back here in Houston],” says Daniel Zerunyan, senior producer, Van Wagner. “Although we didn’t understand the dynamics between the stadium and the control room heading into the Final Four, we knew what we were getting into coming into this event.”

Familiar Space: Crew Returns to Control Room of Livestock Show and Rodeo

Van Wagner returns to NRG Stadium to produce the in-venue show of the 2024 CFP National Championship between Michigan and Washington.

Most stadiums have control rooms centrally located within their structure, but the workflow in Houston is different. The 350-acre complex, which is named NRG Park, comprises four distinct buildings: NRG Stadium, location of tonight’s game between the Huskies and Wolverines and home to the NFL’s Houston Texans; the NRG Astrodome, former home of MLB’s Houston Astros; NRG Center, host to large trade shows and conventions; and NRG Arena, host to various events for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The livestock entertainment entity calls NRG Center home, with its control room and offices housed there. Because the Van Wagner team is split up and working out of two separate work areas — one in NRG Stadium, the other in NRG Center — the team needed to establish clear lines of communication and make sure that individuals’ schedules accounted for the walk between the buildings. The team’s first event in NRG Park in March 2023 smoothed the way for operations in January 2024.

“We’re able to work around some of the sticking points and where we could enhance our documentation [for our staff] coming into [this production],” says Jeremy Havens, producer, Van Wagner. “It has helped us improve for Monday night’s National Championship.”

Video Editor and Motion Graphic Designer Erin Iwaskiewicz works on a project used for Monday’s title game.

Besides adapting to a new way of working, the team faced an LED configuration different from last year’s for the Final Four. To play a basketball game inside a football-centric stadium, the NCAA and its production partners required installation of a centerhung videoboard — which is used for Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo events — to accentuate the statistics and setup associated with college basketball. Luckily, the crew is accustomed to accommodating this temporary fixture at other venues, such as the 2022 Men’s Final Four in New Orleans’s Caesars Superdome, but a football game inside a venue designed for football is a huge boost for the show. Teaming with valuable partners, including Ross Video for technological needs, helps in delivering content to NRG Stadium’s permanent videoboards and LED displays.

“A lot of the elements are driven by Ross,” notes Havens. “The flexibility that Ross provides gives us more peace of mind going into this event but also gives us more time to test things before the game.”

In Full Stride: Tight Turnarounds, CFP Championship Media Day

Van Wagner plays a major role at 2024 CFP National Championship Media Day in downtown Houston on Sunday, Jan. 7.

Unfortunately, the 2024 CFP schedule has the calendar and time playing against preparation. Normally, the crew has eight to 10 days between the two semifinals and the championship. This year, the time shrank to only a week. Once the team touched down in Space City, there wasn’t a lot of time to put the run of show together. On Friday, the pieces started to come together for internal rehearsals and putting the final touches on content to be used on game day.

“We’re starting to see graphics on the board,” said Zerunyan on Friday. “Today, we’re dialing in to get us to the point where we’re ready to go for the weekend.”

Michigan Wolverines quarterback JJ McCarthy seated inside the George R. Brown Convention Center

The weekend involved extensive rehearsals as well as responsibility for two tangential events on Sunday: the in-venue production of the 2024 NCAA FCS National Championship, with the South Dakota State University victorious over the University of Montana, in Frisco, TX, and CFP National Championship Media Day at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston.

“We have three tech managers: one at Media Day, one in the control room at NRG Center, and one as a floater,” said Havens prior to Media Day. “We’re controlling all the LEDs and making it a bit more impactful for the fans [in attendance] since it’s the first time [the event is] opening up to fans.”

Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. fields questions from the media.

These tight turnarounds can add pressure to the job, but, with years of experience and staffers familiar with the tasks that need to be completed, the show will be ready to go by kickoff.

“[Tight deadlines] aren’t abnormal for us,” says Eric Guttorp, producer, Van Wagner. “We tend to go into new venues, so we don’t necessarily get to build on [our show] year over year. Since we get to come back [to Houston], we’re able to produce in a better way since we know where content needs to go and what equipment we’re using to power the boards.”

The content to be shown to fans in the stands will represent the host city and its numerous ties to space exploration, the Western way of life, and more.

“We touched on it a little bit during the Final Four, but I think we’ll lean on it a little bit heavier on Monday,” says Guttorp. “There’ll be a lot of festivities and tailgating happening outside, but, at the end of the day, we have to make sure that we have everything we need to produce a football game.”

Starting Off 2024: Van Wagner Handles 10th CFP National Championship

While many slowly get back into the swing at the start of a new year, Van Wagner wastes no time getting the ball rolling. The CFP National Championship is an important event on the company’s production calendar, but, with the annual success of the game, it uses the event as a springboard to build momentum throughout the rest of the year.

“For our engineers and production crew, this is where it all starts for us,” says Havens. “Our first four months are huge, so all our departments have to be communicative and collaborative. We want to get off on the right foot, and this is the event to do it.”

The crew controls all LED displays at NRG Stadium, including this main screen with separate video feeds showing the different student-athletes.

The team’s scheduled for the next four months includes such events as the NFL Pro Bowl in Orlando on Feb. 4, Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, and the 2024 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Glendale, AZ April 5-8. Along with collaboration and communication, delegating work to others and trusting your colleagues are crucial in getting through this congested time of the year.

“While I was out at the Rose Bowl, Eric [Guttorp] was the one driving the ship on the production side,” says Zerunyan. “Next, I’ll have Pro Bowl, so I have to flip over to the content side [of our operation] to have it ready for [Executive Producer] Kelly Reed. We’ve already had a lot of discussions with the NCAA about Final Four because Eric and I shift into March Madness after Pro Bowl. There is no downtime over the next few months, so we rely on teamwork.”

Tonight, all eyes will be on Houston at college football’s crowning moment. Van Wagner has been affiliated with the event since 2015’s inaugural championship game between Ohio State and the University of Oregon.

“We definitely take pride and joy in what we do with this event,” says Zerunyan. “We’re excited for the future of the College Football Playoff, especially with expansion that’s coming next year.”