As a diehard SEC college football fan, it has been an honor to join the SEC Nation team as the Fan Experience Producer for the show. After 15 straight weeks on the road all across the southeast, I am filled with so much gratitude and am excited to reflect on my experiences!
All season long I got asked what I did! A brand new role for the show, the Fan Experience Producer has a dynamic, fast-paced, and exciting job each week for the show. Throughout the season, I recruited and welcomed over 3,300 students to exclusively experience SEC Nation from within the show compound, interact with talent, perform on commercial breaks, and create an energetic environment. Dozens of incredible student organizations joined us! I coordinated Q&As for student groups in sports media each week and gave them tours of our SEC Nation set on Fridays during our setup. A highlight each week for this former student affairs professional was welcoming student helpers to assist with operations, and I trained 60 total students and provided mentorship in their career journeys. With more than 80 crew members who traveled weekly and even more who contributed in various locations, I loved being able to learn from a variety of different departments and leaders of our show. From contributing to weekly content calls, production meetings, camera meetings, and sales collaborations, I learned so much about the business and operations of sports television. This former pageant girl and aspiring sports journalist loves an opportunity to talk on a mic (especially about football!), and I had a blast curating matchup-specific content weekly with the research team for the show and hosting trivia games on commercial breaks for fans to compete to win tickets to the SEC Championship. Staying organized was of the utmost importance, and I created a run of show outlining commercial breaks for directors, producers, and stage managers including performances, activities, sponsor shoutouts, and music (all of which I coordinated and executed) to create an engaging atmosphere for attendees. Another fun part of the role was welcoming dozens of influencers throughout the season to create behind the scenes content of the show, and millions were reached in our collaborations this fall.
Now, let’s take a look down memory lane with a photo and standout moment from each week 🙂
Week 1 – University of Florida – Gainesville, FL
Doing my first show at a campus that means so much to me! Having worked at UF for 2.5 years and also serving in a professional role with a Heisman Trophy winning Gator, it was really special having so many friends and colleagues a part of our show.
Week 2 – University of Kentucky – Lexington, KY
In honor of the Kentucky Derby, we hosted our own race… A Dino Derby! I tested the suit on the Paul Finebaum Show on Friday, and they were off to the races Saturday in a hilarious and cut through challenge!
Week 3 – University of Florida – Gainesville, FL
Bringing a mechanical gator to our set was iconic! I used to have this at events I hosted when working at Florida, so it was surreal seeing it on our tv set a few years later.
Week 4 – Louisiana State University – Baton Rouge, LA
The band! The energy was ELECTRIC at LSU. Our talent was kicking an inflatable football we had during the commercial break with the band playing music, and they kept it going on air because it was so much fun.
Week 5 – Auburn University – Auburn, AL
I did a summer internship at Auburn during the Summer of 2020 (the pandemic), so being back to the Plains and seeing Auburn in its full glory was spectacular. Also, seeing the War Eagle in action during a shoot on Friday with Marty Smith was iconic!
Week 6 – Texas A&M University – College Station, TX
Texas A&M is known for its traditions, and seeing these in action was special. Lady Rev, the Yell Leaders, the canon and more… It was action packed! This was our only show we did that had a noon ET/11 CT kickoff, so doing the end of our show in the stadium was a bonus. It was my first time at a game so far in the season before leaving part of the way through to fly out.
Week 7 – Red River Rivalry at the State Fair of Texas – Dallas, TX
The State Fair of Texas is unlike anything else in the world. After a busy morning doing the show, I was able to stay in Dallas with my sister and some friends and eat the best fried Oreos I have ever had. It is the little things lol!
Week 8 – University of Tennessee – Knoxville, TN
I knew leaving Knoxville that it would be a hard show to beat. Tennessee fans were on FIRE in their pursuit of taking down the Alabama Crimson Tide. We had over 600 students participate in our show along with all of the fans who came, and I was really proud of the product we were putting out each week.
Week 9 – University of Alabama – Tuscaloosa, AL
The exhaustion of the season had kicked in at this point, but seeing Homecoming at the Capstone was amazing. Alabama is known for its pomping of signs with its student organizations and the excitement of its parade on the morning of the game. I loved being a part of it!
Week 10 – World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party – Jacksonville, FL
I never made it to Jacksonville for this game and have had it on my bucket list for many years. The game lived up to the hype! Neutral site games made my role differ a bit, but making sure there is top-notch energy at every game we go to was a duty I did not take lightly.
Week 11 – University of Mississippi – Oxford, MS
I will never ever forget this weekend at my alma mater!!! I hoped and prayed all season that we would make it to Oxford for a game, and I jumped for joy when we got the notice that we were headed to Mississippi! My boyfriend Leo is from England, so bringing him to his first football game EVER meant the world to me. It rained and rained that morning but we didn’t let it stop the Party in the Sip. Ole Miss took down top 5 ranked Georgia, and we stormed the field for the first time in my Ole Miss fan career. Seeing so many friends and bringing the SEC Nation experience to my home is one of my favorite UM memories of all time.
Week 12 – University of Georgia – Athens, GA
Pookie and Jett joined us on set, and I met UGA the bulldog! Lots of Georgia rivalry. This was my first time to Athens, and I loved getting to explore the SEC towns I had not been to before.
Week 13 – University of Texas – Austin, TX
Alright, alright, alright! Having the unofficial mayor of Austin, Matthew McConaughey, join our set was epic. I have been so inspired by his book, Greenlights. I love fans who are so passionate about their team, and he is the best of the best for the Texas Longhorns!
Week 14 – University of Alabama – Tuscaloosa, AL
Big Al takes the cake for SEC mascots! This was the last week of the regular season, which means one thing… The Iron Bowl! Auburn and Alabama rivalry is intense and transcends statewide. I had a lot of fun showcasing elements of this rivalry including a food drive competition between the schools, Miss America titleholders from both schools, and more.
Week 15 – SEC Championship – Atlanta, GA
The weekend we waited for all season… THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP! The pomp and flair was cranked up 10 notches for the final weekend of the regular season. After giving out tickets to the SEC Championship to two fans each week, it was really special inviting all of our game winners from the fall back to be a part of another commercial break. I got to stay for the game this time, and I even ended up on tv unexpectedly during post game interviews. Being on the field at Mercedes Benz Stadium was a crazy bucket list item achieved.
This is just the beginning for me with ESPN. I’m so lucky to be a girl who loves sports and is living out a dream. Thankful and appreciative of every week spent in the sky going to make special experiences for SEC fans each week. As they say… It Just Means More!
