OPINION: The Met Gala is the Super Bowl of fashion — and it is broadcast just the same

The Met Gala is my Super Bowl.

Though I do sit in front of the TV on a Sunday night in February to watch the biggest football game of the season, I am much more excited to turn on the TV with The New York Times live updates open on my laptop on a Monday night in May to watch the red carpet outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This semester, I have been taking the Sports Broadcasting course at St. Thomas. If you know me personally, you may find that surprising, but I was aiming to push myself out of my comfort zone and have well-rounded electives for my journalism degree.

I think I managed just that. Spending time each week listening and analyzing sports play-by-play broadcasts gave me a new perspective when listening to E! News’s live coverage of the 2024 Met Gala. They provide the red carpet with its own sort of play-by-play and color commentary.

Unlike many of my classmates, I cannot tell one sports broadcaster’s voice from another. We will listen to a clip in class, and the people in the room can immediately name the voice as Joe Buck, Jim Nantz or Kevin Harlan. I lack that ability; however, I was finally able to relate to them on Monday night.

As soon as I turned on the TV, I knew I was hearing fashion designer Christian Siriano’s voice commenting on Kendall Jenner’s ensemble. I guess that’s what watching copious amounts of Project Runway as a preteen does to a girl.

One thing we discuss in class is pregame research. This includes context about the game, statistics of the players and coaches and of course stories too. The commentators of the Met Gala do the same.

Reporter Zuri Hall, model Lily Aldridge and fashion expert Zanna Roberts Rossi commentated on the evening for E! News, joined by journalist Elaine Welteroth and designer Christian Siriano, providing live feedback on the looks of the gala’s attendees as they descended the steps.

Not only do they provide opinions (however very light on critiques and mostly including flattery), but they also provide information on each celebrity and what they have done with their careers recently or their relation to the Met Gala. For example, this is Zendaya’s first Met Gala in five years and she returned as a co-host. This was noted throughout the coverage.

They also know what each attendee is wearing and what went into the design. Lana Del Rey wore a dress by Alexander McQueen, and commentators shared that it was designed by new designer Seán McGirr. The commentators provided the context that this is his first time having designs appear at the gala.

In the realm of sports broadcasting, the dual commentary from the play-by-play broadcaster and color analyst is well known to provide details of the game as well as the perspective of someone familiar with the game, sometimes a former player.

E! News’s 2024 Met Gala TV commentary reflected just that. Christian Siriano, as mentioned before, has been a known designer on the fashion scene for over 15 years after being the youngest winner of Project Runway in 2007. He is fashion’s own sort of color analyst. His presence on the mic provided an interesting perspective on the amount of time and work it takes to craft each garment seen on the Met stairs that someone who has never sewn before may not realize.

Beyond what is happening in the stadium or arena, there can sometimes be an editorial conflict during an in-game broadcast: do you call only what you see, or if breaking news happens in the outside world, do you report it? The first report of John Lennon’s death was by Howard Cosell of Monday Night Football.

This year’s Met Gala presented a similar challenge. While the richest members of society were descending the steps for a gala, there were pro-Palestine protests throughout Manhattan, specifically on 5th Avenue and in Central Park. Police made arrests and tried to stop the protest from reaching the museum.

Other networks may have made a different editorial decision, but I noticed that E! News did not address the demonstrations for Gaza in their commentary; however, The New York Times live updates for the Met Gala also included live updates on the protests.

I think addressing the protests is necessary to cover the gala. The glitz and glam of the night cannot overshadow what happens off the property of the museum throughout the rest of the world. The reality is that the protests are a part of the event. To ignore them in coverage is to disregard the impact of the event.

Decisions and principles in live event broadcasting are not exclusive to sports but rather extend to other subjects. Though fashion and sports seem like opposite ends of the spectrum, they both require large amounts of research and coverage to tell a story.

Elaina Mankowski can be reached at mank2823@stthomas.edu.