Super Bowl LVIII: Rising Women Reporters Get Unique Opportunity Thanks to Partnership Between NBCU Local and Training and Mentorship Group GALvanize
Seven emerging sports media professionals are creating Super Bowl Week content for NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations and RSNs
Story Highlights
Super Bowl Week – and its infamous “Radio Row” – is annually one of the biggest content hubs on the sports calendar. This year, seven young women are getting the unique opportunity to be a part of the action in Las Vegas thanks to a new partnership between NBCUniversal Local’s Digital Innovation Team and GALvanize – an organization that offers training and mentoring to women in sports media.
Meghan Caffrey (right) interviews Greg Braggs Jr., a producer from CHGO Sports at the GALvanize booth at Radio Row at Super Bowl Week in Las Vegas. (Photo: @GBraggsJr23/Twitter)
At Radio Row, NBCU Local and GALvanize have set up an interview station where the participants in the program will have the opportunity to shoot, conduct, and edit interviews throughout the week. That content will be prominently featured across NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations and regional sports network platforms.
The participating members are Meghan Caffrey (Basking Ridge, N.J.); Katie Caldwell (Kimberley, B.C.); Myckena Guerrero (Mission Viejo, Calif.); Drew Jones (Alameda, Calif.); Mariah Ross (Greer, S.C.); and twins Amanda van Frankfoort and Brittany van Frankfoort (Ottawa, Ont.).
“It’s a game changer for every single woman who’s doing this program,” says Laura Okmin, the veteran NFL on FOX sideline reporter and Founder of GALvanize. “It’s a game changer for me for getting the support and partnership. It’s a game changer for GALvanize being able to say, look at these people who are investing in you; look at this reach we’re getting because of them. Honestly, the support and the kindness they’ve been giving us since this started has been incredible.”
The seven GALvanize participants are creating content on-site at Radio Row in Las Vegas prior to
Super Bowl LVIII. (Photo: Laura Okmin)
Okmin, a veteran of the sports media industry and one of the longest tenured sideline reporters in the history of the NFL, first founded GALvanize more than a decade ago and its blossomed into one of the premier training and mentorship organizations in the industry for women in sports media. Okmin says she recalls working her first Super Bowl back in 1992 and how intimidating that experience was for her. She hopes that though this partnership, the seven participants will not only get the opportunity to create content at a Super Bowl but feel empowered and supported while doing so.
“When I did my first Super Bowl, I think I was 22 and I was so in over my head and I really messed up,” says Okmin. “That’s still what I feel when I think of my first Super Bowl experience. I recognized that with these women saying, ‘I’m overwhelmed’ and ‘I’m nervous,’ and ‘I’m excited.’ With this, you have a team right next to you. You’re not alone doing this. I can’t think of a more incredible way or a more meaningful way to tell a group of young people – women or men – that you’re going to do the biggest event that you’ve ever done, but you’re going to be supported in every way. That’s pretty cool.”
During the Niners presser today longtime GALvanizer @Myckena_G asked Brock Purdy about WHO he is beyond football and the legacy he wants to leave.
This is what makes GALvanize standout — we care about the WHO. pic.twitter.com/4WPQlH9Fao
— GALvanize (@GALvanizeLife) February 7, 2024
In addition to the on-site content creation opportunities, NBCU Local has also offered the participants training and networking leading up to the trip to Vegas. According to Jeremy Berg, Director of Digital Video for NBCU Local, his team focuses many aspects of content creation across NBCUniversal, including training for fulltime staff on the ins and ours of digital video production and distribution. Two training sessions, including on their style of editing in Adobe Premiere and shooting workflows, were offered to the GALvanize 2024 group, as was a Q and A with fulltime staff from across the family of NBC Regional Sports Networks.
“We were blown away by the level of questions that these women from GALvanize were asking,” says Seth Rubinroit, Senior Manager, Audio and Digital Strategy for NBCU Local. “t was really cool. It was supposed to be 45 minutes and at the end of it when I went to cut off the conversation all of the executives wanted to stay. I think it’s awesome that all of these women are going to get this real hands-on experience at Super Bowl Radio Row.”
At Radio Row, participants are also receiving instruction on video editing, graphics creation, interviewing best practices, and social and web publishing. GALvanize and NBCU Local has a booth stationed at Radio Row to serve as the home base for interviews and the group will be traveling to multiple locations throughout Vegas to create content, including at events like Media Day and NFL Honors.
“We are committed to supporting the next generation of diverse voices as they pursue careers as content creators and leaders in sports media,” said Lora Dennis, EVP of Digital Media for NBCU Local. “Working with these women and seeing them support each other’s work creates the kind of foundation that will have a lasting impact professionally and personally. We are thrilled to partner with Laura and GALvanize to give them the opportunity to level the playing field on one of sports greatest stages.”
The Empower Campaign, an organization established to support women and youth, has invested the funds to make the trip possible for all of the seven participants.
