Buck says he knows some people love to lie back on the couch and watch a tournament, but the people who cover it on TV must be ready to pivot, keeping an eye on each individual contestant’s progress and staying ready to provide updates. The new presentation adds a dose of energy to the usual golf proceedings. “You see different people in different fields all with one common goal, and we get to remind people that sports are fun to watch.” One of the key elements of the shows is that “everyone checks their business address at the door,” says Peyton Manning, in an interview. Omaha is also developing concepts for some of ESPN’s college football and UFC telecasts. There is some hope that actor Jon Hamm may take part. After launching the “ManningCast” last year, the company is taking a swing at golf his weekend with Buck, Collins and an eye-popping list of guests that includes Charles Barkley, Jack Nickalus, Sean Payton, Jim Nantz, Will Arnett, Larry Saban, Scott Van Pelt and Annika Sorenstam, among others. Many of them are there because Peyton Manning makes a personal invitation. Key to the effort is the appearance of top-flight guests who beam in remotely. If the set-up for this PGA Golf view sounds familiar, it’s because it’s produced by Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions, which has turbo-charged the format with its so-called “ManningCast” that has Peyton and his brother Eli talking about ESPN’s Monday football games on ESPN2 while the flagship cable outlet offers a more traditional game presentation. It’s hard.” He will do more of it Friday, Saturday and Sunday on ESPN2 in a new format that adds sports-pub chatter and celebrity appearances to the typical golf coverage.īuck and Collins are the latest popular sports personae to try their hand at one of a growing number of “alterna-casts” that have tried to introduce new ways of watching big games and events.
“I have to kind of turn off the gene that I have that wants to be on top of all the action. “I have to remind myself the whole time it’s not what I typically do,” he says in an interview. about his golf and baseball swings.Įven though the setting is relaxed and informal, it poses a challenge for Buck. Here he was, sitting alongside golf analyst Michael Collins on ESPN2, watching Tiger Woods on the green at the 2022 PGA Championship and talking to baseball great Ken Griffey Jr. The veteran sports announcer raised eyebrows earlier this year by jumping from his longtime roost at Fox Sports to the Disney sports giant, where he and colleague Troy Aikman are set to host “Monday Night Football.” On Thursday afternoon, however, Buck was doing something completely different. This wasn’t supposed to be Joe Buck’s first assignment for ESPN.