NBC Sports, BODEGA and Northern Lights Team Up for 2017 Sunday Night Football Open

New York/San Francisco-based content creation studio BODEGA’s Emmy Award-winning executive creative director Haley Geffen and Northern Lights editor Alan Chimenti once again team up with NBC Sports VP Creative Director/Director Tripp Dixon to take primetime’s number one show to the streets of Anywhere USA in an all-new open for NBC’s Sunday Night Football (SNF). 

The open features Carrie Underwood performing the SNF theme song, “Oh, Sunday Night,” and takes viewers on a trip through some of the most iconic streets of NYC, Atlanta, Denver and Pittsburgh, building up the excitement for Football’s biggest night. It also features top NFL players including Antonio Brown, Derek Carr, Khalil Mack, Dont’a Hightower, Julio Jones, Travis Kelce, Von Miller, Patrick Peterson, Jason Pierre Paul and Dak Prescott and NBC Sports’ Cris Collinsworth, Al Michaels and Michele Tafoya. This is the sixth year that BODEGA has collaborated with NBC Sports on the opening, with ECD Haley Geffen earning a Sports Emmy for the 2013 open.

Underwood strides through the streets, guiding viewers through the cities as players, sportscasters and fans gather in excitement, rallying a crowd for a kinetic kickoff show. As the crowd continues to build, the players join Underwood on stage to amp up the energy for primetime’s top show for six consecutive seasons, with fans cheering for the show at an outdoor stage.

This was the first time that the open has been shot outdoors, filmed on Universal Studios’ backlot in Hollywood, delivering a refreshed energy and vitality to get fans excited for the 2017 SNF season. The creative team utilized the urban landscape of the New York Street sets, transforming the set into the various additional cities through distinct characteristics and landmarks in post-production by Method Studios LA.

The palpable energy in the open is largely a result of the unique casting process for extras. Dixon and Geffen led the creative team in casting real fans from local fan clubs.

“The real fans brought an unmistakable energy to the set, which was felt by the entire crew and all of the players,” notes Geffen. “It also gave Carrie an opportunity to do what she does best, which is bring everyone together, and no one does it better.”

Adds NBC Sports VP Creative Director/Director Tripp Dixon, "One of the great things about this project is the opportunity to work with highly collaborative people. Haley Geffen and the production team at BODEGA were a vital part of the equation.”