Setting up “ManningCast” for ESPN’s Monday Night Football

Peyton Manning broadcasting from the transformed ManningCast Batcave - Photo courtesy Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times

The call came late July of 2021. 

A contact at ESPN asked if we would be available for a series of shoots coming up in Denver that fall, plus a more pressing location / tech scout in early August for a new show they were launching. I was on a shoot for PGA Tour in Utah, so we coordinated the scout for after that. 

Scouting the potential ManningCast location. Photo by Tom Miller

The idea was that Peyton Manning and his brother Eli were going to host Monday Night Football games live on ESPN2, and they needed a good location for Peyton’s half. Apparently Peyton’s friend had this cool spot that they thought might work. 

The top secret address led us to a very bland looking warehouse south of downtown Denver. How were they going to shoot a TV show in there?

But when we walked in we understood. 

This was the ultimate man cave - filled with huge TVs, a couple of bars, pool tables, and over a dozen gorgeous vintage muscle cars, including a baby blue Mercedes that once belonged to Wayne Newton. 

Our mission was to find spots where Peyton could sit, visit with guests, and walk around if he wanted. We brought in one of our crews to shoot various angles, test the audio, and help figure out some potential set pieces and lighting. 

We put together a series of clips, including me playing Peyton to test the audio.

I didn’t get the accent or enthusiasm quite right, but it served it’s purpose!

Thanks in part to my incredible acting skills, the scout was a success, and they ended up choosing that location. 

Unfortunately, prior obligations made it so we couldn’t continue shooting the show, but I know we left it in great hands. And it was really fun to have a tiny part in helping it launch.

And who knew what a huge hit Manningcast would become?

Earlier this year, Adam Schefter reported that ESPN has reached a nine-year media-rights extension with Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions, extending the existing partnership into 2034. The deal will see the continuation of the Emmy award-winning Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, and additional Omaha content such as Peyton's Places and Eli's Places.

Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times was kind enough to let me use the opening photo above, which I found in his great article Inside ‘ManningCast’: How Peyton and Eli Manning are changing the way we watch sports

Also Peyton Manning has a great conversation with the folks at Smartless about many things, including what “Omaha” meant on the field, and shooting ManningCast from his buddy’s man cave.