RUNNING HEAD: TELEPRESENCE AND SUPER BOWL LI: MY UNIQUE EXPERIENCE

Telepresence and Super Bowl LI: My Unique Experience

Edward Marotta

John Carroll University

TELEPRESENCE AND SUPER BOWL LI: MY UNIQUE EXPERIENCE 1

Introduction

In a recent trend that has brought forth technological advances at a more rapid pace than any

point in history prior, consumers have continued to help push the growth of mediated content

marketing. With mediated content shifting from a high end privilege to an everyday occurrence

at the turn of the century, massive amounts of content are being released at a pace that has

never been seen before. In the wake of this shift, it became necessary to see how consumers

are affected by the information they are absorbing. Although social media and various other

markets certainly affect how people think about certain topics and react to information being

presented to them, studies have been conducted to examine the relationship between one’s

experience with mediated content and the content itself. While these concepts still may change

with technology on a daily basis, one thing is for sure: there is a definite correlation between

people’s emotional states and the mediated content they involve themselves with. To further

describe the relationship between an individual and the content they take in, the term

telepresence has been developed… and although a general audience may not understand the

term when used in an average conversation, it is something that each and every one of us

experiences whenever we have contact with any form of mediated content.

Background

Telepresence is generally defined as being an illusion of non-mediation during one’s experience

with some form of mediated content. Within the frames of class discussion, six different

dimensions of telepresence were explored: social presence, realism, transportation, immersion,

social actors within mediums, and mediums as social actors themselves. While individuals are

always feeling telepresence to some extent while engaging with mediated content, not all of

these dimensions may be presently acting upon them. The more immersed a person feels with

the content they are experiencing may influence the degree of telepresence they feel, although
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they may not directly feel it at the time of the action. The feeling of mediation may differ

throughout the experience, and the level at which one senses that they are using mediated

content may alter. Different studies come to different conclusions about these experiences, but

gaining knowledge from all of them may be beneficial in diagnosing personal experiences more

accurately.

One theory that has been suggested through studies of telepresence experiences is that of

arrival and departure. In “​Immersed in Media: Telepresence in Everyday Life,” Cheryl

Campanella Bracken and Renee A. Botta discuss the specific relationship telepresence

experiences have with television. While initially highlighting the subdivisions of arrival and

departure as the feelings of “being there in the mediated environment,” and “the feeling of not

being in the unmediated environment” (41). Although they go on to recognize the six dimensions

that were previously discussed in regards to telepresence experiences, and state that these are

more commonly accepted nowadays, there are still some connections that can be made to my

story when considering the concepts of arrival and departure. Further, the authors suggest that

only four of the six current subdivisions of telepresence can be found in a telepresence

experience with a television set, but I would argue that depending on the programming being

viewed, all six subdimensions can still be felt (to some degree).

Expanding further on the relationship between telepresence and television, it became evident to

explore how the sense of telepresence has changed as displays on television have become

more accurate to how we actually see the world. In his work, Peter Steel examines the

relationship between telepresence and HDTV, and draws a conclusion that seems very rational:

“Certain types of television and cable/satellite programming may lend themselves to more

immersive viewing. Sports, travel, action films, adventure and reality series are types of

programmes where viewers could viscerally experience being part of the action by sitting close
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to a UHDTV screen that fills their peripheral vision,” (133). This will certainly connect back to

telepresence experiences I have had myself, and it seems that Steel hits the nail right on the

head throughout his research, especially in regards to the specific aspect ratios and framerates

that television companies film with in an attempt to capture an audience further into

telepresence.

With sports’ popularity continuously growing in media coverage by media outlets that are not

only limited to sports coverage sources (ie. ESPN), more emphasis has been placed on

studying the effects of telepresence in athletes and people who consume large amounts of

sports coverage. While technology continues to expand (and telepresence with it), new forms of

experiencing mediated content are being explored for fans as well. One widespread form of

mediated content with sports is fantasy sports, and the relationship that fans now feel they have

with players through fantasy can have a positive correlation with telepresence as a social actor.

This correlation was studied by Bradley Geery, who concluded, “...telepresence and time

distortion would have a positive effect on flow in individuals participating in fantasy sports. Both

variables were found to have a positive significant relationship with flow,” (133). With fantasy

sports being commonly used on a separate device when viewing a game on television, one may

believe that the second media may interrupt telepresence, but in reality, the relationships made

by fantasy sports help facilitate a smoother viewing experience for a sports fanatic.

Continuing to explore the relationship with sports media and telepresence, it is notable that a

common place for news within the younger generations is social media. With content being

released at a more rapid pace and in bulk in social media, misinformation and contrasting

opinions may interrupt or distort a person’s experience of telepresence. When viewing the

relationship between social media culture and telepresence, David Westerman found that, “​ ​As

social media becomes a more heavily used information source, even for things as critical as
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risks and crises, the gatekeeping function of that information also falls more into the hands of

the page users, rather than the page creators.” The users of social media content are

responsible for this specific experience, and hold all of the cards in how they choose to let it

affect their telepresence when using social media applications. Content creators are a more

vast group now, and their individual credibility may be called into question at any point, or after

any individual tweet. It is up to the audience to identify which sources of information they choose

to be exposed to at any given time.

In specific relation to popular sports figures’ involvement with social media, Brett Hutchins

argues that Twitter and other social media have helped create an intimacy with public figures

that sports fans were unable to have prior to the development of these forms of communication.

Despite their novelty, Twitter’s 140-character messages also relate to an

existing set of digital messaging practices, including email, sms text messaging,

internet relay chat, instant messaging, status updates and bulletin board posts.

Impromptu, fast, interactive and multimedia messages have long been a

routine feature of online communications via numerous platforms and interfaces,

satisfying and creating demand among internet and wireless communication

users for established and novel forms of interaction. (Hutchins 239)

As a result of this increase sense of intimacy with public figures, fans of specific teams are more

likely to feel like they have formed relationships with sports icons and other public figures alike.

This relationship may directly correlate back to a sense of telepresence.

Relevance

With telepresence playing a role in every mediated communication, the personal experiences

each of us has to choose from are plentiful. For me, the choice that stood out in terms of a

recognizable telepresence memory was easy. I have been a fan of the New England Patriots
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since I was a little kid, and I enjoy watching every game that I can. Throughout my lifetime, I

have been spoiled in watching the Greatest Of All Time, Tom Brady, lace up his cleats and do

his job at the highest level. With 40 separate fourth quarter comebacks in his career, each one

of them holds a special place in my heart. Whether it was the last second comeback against the

“Greatest Show on Turf” St. Louis Rams to win Super Bowl XXXVI, a heroic effort against the

New Orleans Saints in 2013, or just last week against the Houston Texans, “Tom Terrific” has

proven over and over again that he should never be counted out of any game. Still, that did not

stop some from doubting him in perhaps his greatest comeback of all, when he led a rally to

defeat the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI this past February.

After a sloppy first half and jokes rolling around the internet started calling Brady “washed up” at

39 years of age, things did not look pretty at the start of the third quarter. 2016 NFL MVP Matt

Ryan and the high flying Atlanta Falcons offense continued their domination in the third stanza,

where they were able to separate on the scoreboard, 28-3. Little old me was sitting in silence at

my friend’s house, waiting for Tommy to pull of a miraculous comeback, but with two minutes

and change remaining in the third, time was running out fast.

Normally, I would be up in arms and very outspoken at this point of the game. Seeing my team

lose is never fun, but the effort and efficiency that I was used to watching on a weekly basis was

just not there. Even after our first touchdown of the game, a mental mistake on the extra point

only netted us 6 points on the drive. Even with the frustration I was feeling in the moment, all I

could think was “Brady does not get blown out. Especially not in the Super Bowl.”

After the end of the third quarter, a tweet by the Atlanta Falcons official page updated the score,

and captioned, “15 minutes away,” it seemed like they were a bit overconfident. Angry with the

disrespectful nature of the tweet, I decided to put down my phone and focus solely on the game

at hand. I knew all of the players out there like they were my friends, and my familiarity with both
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teams suggested to me that the Falcons may try to stay aggressive. With the #1 scoring

defense in the league, I forced myself to stay off of Twitter and would not pay attention to how

much everyone else, even those in the room with me, was loving watching my favorite team

lose.

The fourth quarter began, and as the Patriots continued to chip away at the Falcons lead I

began to forget that I was even in the room watching the game with other people. 28-12. 28-20.

28-26. Oh, come on… we needed another 2-point conversion just to send the game into

overtime. 28-28. Win the coin toss in overtime. At this point, it almost seemed inevitable. We get

the ball in overtime and start to drive down the field. I can almost feel the crowd around me as I

guess every play call John Carroll graduate and Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels

sends into my favorite player’s helmet on the field. We enter the red zone, inside the 10 yard

line, and…

The TV turns off. At once, I was pulled from the stadium, and quiet Eddie trying to keep his

composure goes nuts. My friend sat on the remote in the biggest moment of the game, and

pulled every ounce of adrenaline I had rushing through my veins out of me at once. To make

matters worse, he lost the remote between the couch cushions and was unable to figure out

how to turn the game back on until I ripped the remote from his hands to do it myself. Finally,

the game was back on.

Second and Goal; ball is placed on the two yard line. The toss is to James White, he stretches

around the right side of the line, and, “HE’S IN! PATRIOTS WIN THE SUPER BOWL! BRADY

GETS HIS FIFTH!” Joe Buck’s greatest line in his illustrious broadcasting career capped of a

historic comeback. Although I may not have felt like I did eight minutes sooner when I was part

of the Patriots sideline (in my mind), I was still overcome with joy to see my team win. Running
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around the house, I knew I just watched history on his television, but I also realized that I was in

his house, not at the game, the entire play.

After watching the game replayed hundreds of times, there was still nothing like the feeling of

being there to witness it happen the first time. The only play I ended up missing probably would

have given me a heart attack, as Brady threw a risky fade to Tight End Martellus Bennett that

almost got intercepted on first and goal. Still, the feeling of being there was something that I had

never experienced to that degree before, and I doubt I will feel again. This was the best

example of telepresence I have felt, and made for an easy selection when asked to choose one.

Analysis

While I will argue that I felt all six subdivisions of telepresence in my experience with Super Bowl

LI, I would like to highlight the first point that I illustrated earlier, made by Bracken and Brotta.

Although others may have moved forward past arrival and departure in telepresence, I feel like I

had a strong correlation to that. With every yard gained and big defensive play, my level of

telepresence increased until I felt like I was in the mediated environment. In an instant, I was

pulled back from that feeling, and was fully aware that I was not in the mediated environment for

the remainder of my experience. Even Tom’s great monologue with Terry Bradshaw on the

podium after the game felt less exciting (but not much).

Contrasting their argument in the further stages, I do not believe that a television experience is

limited to just four of the six components that factor into telepresence. For me, social presence

with the crowd was definitely felt, although I was not even able to see them during the play itself.

At a game, I am solely focused on the field of play as well, so the cutaways to crowd reactions

were enough for me at that point in time. Additionally on this topic, I feel that removing myself

from social media towards the tail end of the game influenced my more active involvement with

the screen itself, and not worrying about hopping back and forth between mediated devices
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between plays helped me immerse myself in the game further. Going back to the point made by

Westerman, I was able to identify that I was in control of the mediated content that I was

viewing, and the disrespectful tweets coming from all angles during the first three quarters of the

game was not the content that I wanted to expose myself to. In addition to making my blood

boil, I realized that this was taking me out of the action on the field.

Realism was an obvious connector in this case, as the live coverage of the event represented

the game as accurately as it could be. Transportation was a key factor for me, and as a result of

my involvement following the team on a daily basis for the majority of my life, I generally feel like

I am right there with the team on any given Sunday. I felt immersion from the outcome of the

game as it started to unfold, and as each play continued to push the result I was hoping for, my

senses became completely filled by what I was watching. This was also aided by the fantastic

4k display of the television I was viewing the game on, which ties back into the point made by

Steel earlier on. Without having to worry about a lagging frame rate or pixelated displays, I was

more easily able to convince myself that I was watching the game from the stands.

The last two divisions of telepresence are what make me feel that I could have experienced all

six, and not just four, like Bracken and Brotta suggest. Although I may have never met Josh

McDaniels, Tom Brady, or anyone else in the Patriots organization (unfortunately), my following

of the team for so long has created a certain sense of relationship with the characters involved,

which directly relates to Hutchins argument about players forming relationships with fans

through the media. This was extremely apparent in my viewing of the game, as this is how I’ve

stayed connected with my favorite players and coaches for the majority of my life. In an attempt

to stay informed about the rest of the league as well, I found that involving myself with fantasy

sports online, in addition to social media, has been an easy way to track the game’s best

performers on a weekly basis. With some of the best standout performers from around the entire
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NFL on the Falcons roster last year, I was very familiar with their roster, and my knowledge of

the players as a result of this definitely increased the overall flow of the experience for me, just

as Geery suggested in his article.

A relationship with characters may be normal for any other telepresence experience that people

have with their favorite characters on television, but the link that my viewing of the game’s has

with how broadcasts are typically set up is what I feel like sets my sixth dimension of

telepresence in stone. Generally, a narrator setting the scene may remove one’s experience of

telepresence, as a result of them not being directly engaged with the story. With my history in

broadcasting and watching live broadcasts of sporting events, though, I have begun to see the

communications that I have with the broadcasters in the game as conversations themselves.

Seeing this medium as a social actor, I enjoy getting into conversations about X’s and O’s with

Tony Romo on Sunday’s now, and although those people may not feel real to me, because I do

not have the perceived relationship with them that I do with the players I generally root for, I do

see them just like I would see a “Siri” or “Cortana.” Most may not share this experience with me,

but my history in the field itself, along with the way I view the game on my own, help to shape

this unique experience when I am completely immersed in a broadcast.

Conclusion

With mediated communication happening countless times throughout our daily lives, it may be

difficult to identify specific points that stand out as telepresence experiences. My constant

fandom of the New England Patriots organization has given me plenty of experiences to choose

from, but Super Bowl LI will forever stand out in my mind as a moment that will never be

matched. Several factors influenced my telepresent connection to the game, players, and

broadcasters themselves to form an experience like I have never felt before. While some may

say that there are restrictions in the degree that telepresence may affect you through certain
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forms of mediated communication, I firmly believe that each person’s telepresence may

fluctuate based on prior experiences and life history. All six divisions of telepresence may be

simultaneously influencing us in different ways and capacities at the same time, and this may

make it difficult to differentiate between the emotions while you are in the heat of the moment.

Regardless, I am certain that my field of experience leading up to my feeling of telepresence

that night helped lead me into an emotional state that is seldom felt when watching a television

program.
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References

Braken, C. C., & Botta, R. A. (2010). Immersed in Media: Telepresence in Everyday Life.

Telepresence and Television,​ 39-43. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=w6GRAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA39&dq=televisi

on

telepresence&ots=efrtAjIizt&sig=ZNPXgRY-vGbLeyDcmTKQfu442N0#v=onepage&q=television

%20telepresence&f=false.

Geery, Brian B. "HOW FLOW FROM FANTASY SPORTS AFFECTS CONSUMER

BEHAVIOR." Dec. 2012,

repository.library.fresnostate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.3/105331/BrianGEERY.pdf?sequence

=1. Accessed 29 Sept. 2017.

Hutchins, Brett (2011). “THE ACCELERATION OF MEDIA SPORT CULTURE,

Information, Communication & Society.” 14:2, 237-257, DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2010.508534

Steel, P. B. (2014). Telepresence and immersion with high-definition digital displays:

Background and future directions for research. ​International Journal of Digital Television,​ ​5​(2),

123-135. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from

http://0-eds.a.ebscohost.com.library.jcu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=afc19577-36f3

-4567-afae-46cd994eaaa2%40sessionmgr4008
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Westerman, David. "Social Media as Information Source: Recency of Updates and Credibility of

Information." ​Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication​, vol. 19, no. 2, Jan. 2014,

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcc4.12041/full. Accessed 1 Oct. 2017.