Sports Business Journal names ManningCast Best Innovation of 2021
When former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning decided to hang up the cleats, he hit the ground running in his post-playing career. It began when the former two-time Super Bowl MVP shocked the world and joined twitter.
Now, in his second season since retirement, Manning’s media career took off between “The Eli Manning Show,” “Eli’s Places” and, most famously, the ESPN ManningCast on Monday Night Football where Eli teams up with his brother Peyton in a different type of broadcast.
Early on many questioned how successful the Manningcast would be — would the business model work? Well, the ManningCast was just named the Best Innovation of 2021 by Sports Business Journal.
In addition to those massive numbers, ManningCast has lent an air of anticipation and hype for the games, which have struggled to command attention ever since the NFL switched its best prime-time package to Sundays in 2006. One never knows when a host might accidentally flip off the camera (Eli, on Sept. 27) or a guest might zing the hosts (Joe Buck, on Dec. 6).
The runaway success means more leverage for the Mannings, who could extract a serious payday for more work at ESPN or another platform. But don’t expect that, Eli said. “We signed a contract to do 10 games a year for three years, and no one’s talked about changing that,” he said. “You’ve got a few bye weeks to get a break, get a breather, which is helpful.”
The casual conversational style broadcast has clearly taken off and the Manning brothers’ personalities are likely a big reason why.
The ManningCast has a guest during each quarter of the game which has produced some network gold including Marshawn Lynch taking shots on air, Tom Brady making comments regarding his displeasure over his games against Eli Manning and of course, who could forget Eli giving the camera the double bird as he reenacted the actions of a young Philadelphia Eagles fan during Elis playing days.
However, getting guests to come on in the future may be a bit of a task as their seems to be a “ManningCast curse” that has developed during Season 1 of the broadcast.
If 2021 is any indication, the ManningCast will continue in the future and we will certainly be getting more of the Manning brothers.
“We signed a contract to do 10 games a year for three years, and no one’s talked about changing that,” Eli said. “You’ve got a few bye weeks to get a break, get a breather, which is helpful.”
The ManningCast certainly has the potential to make other networks experiment with other unorthodox types of broadcasts in the future.
Surely, Giants fans are always locked in to anything and everything that has to do with Eli Manning who, of course, brought the franchise two Super Bowls during his time with Big Blue.
The ManningCast is something that has clearly taken off and being named the Best Innovation of 2021 by Sports Business Journal is a well-deserved recognition for the Manning Brothers.