ATK Audiotek Networks at Super Bowl LIX

New Orleans, LA (February 10, 2025)—This year’s Super Bowl had it all, from a much-anticipated rematch between the Eagles and Chiefs, to halftime headliner Kendrick Lamar, fresh off multiple Grammy Award wins last week. While 113 million people at home tuned in to see Philadelphia rout Kansas City inside New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome, those in attendance heard all the action thanks to ATK Audiotek, a Clair Global company, which has been the live-sound provider for the Super Bowl for nearly 30 years.

ATK is responsible for all “in-bowl audio,” including pre-game, halftime and in-game sound. Its work also extends to distributing signals for key partners such as NFL Films, NFL Network, and Westwood One Radio. To accomplish that, ATK utilized a digital audio signal path that used a Dante networked audio infrastructure featuring 96 components from Focusrite’s RedNet range of Dante-networked audio converters and interfaces—one of the most complex and expansive audio distributions ATK had ever undertaken.

“The Super Bowl presents a massive logistical challenge every year, requiring the coordination of a vast number of diverse audio sources and ensuring they are routed accurately to their respective destinations,” said Kirk Powell, engineer-in-charge for ATK/Clair Global. “Managing this complex network of audio signals demands reliable and flexible technology, which is why Focusrite RedNet components are a crucial part of our operations. We’ve thrown in all our spare equipment to meet the demands of this event, and the result is an incredibly sophisticated and reliable system. RedNet’s seamless connectivity and adaptability allow us to efficiently handle the intricate demands of the event, ensuring everything runs smoothly and meets the high standards expected for such a large-scale production.”

Delivering the Super Bowl Experience

ATK used RedNet units variously for PA distribution, field audio, production trucks, and front-of-house and monitor positions. More than a half-dozen D64R 64-channel MADI bridges were used between entities to ensure clock synchronization and inter-system audio transfer and sharing without relying on a common master reference clock. Meanwhile, 20 D16R MkII 16-channel AES3 I/O units managed digital signal transport with AES for smaller channel counts and 32 A16R MkII analogue I/O interfaces provided analog backup for the P.A. system, which ran AVB (Audio Video Bridging) instead of Dante. A dozen MP8R 8-channel remote-controlled mic pres helped capture audience reaction and Atmos microphones for Apple Music’s Atmos halftime mix, and six AM2 stereo audio monitoring units were used to further support audio signal distribution.

ATK’s audio team for the event, both at its Valencia, California facilities and on-site in New Orleans at the Super Bowl included mixers Dave Natale and Alex Guessard (front of house for entertainment), Jack Bowling (front of house for the game), Tom Pesa and Chris Daniels (monitor engineers for entertainment), and Cameron Stuckey from Professional Wireless handling wireless audio. P.A. design and implementation for the game’s L-Acoustics system were overseen by system tech Johnny Keirle from Clair Global. As in previous years, ATK prepped the system in the home office in Valencia, testing the system before shipment. However, due to tight scheduling constraints following a Beyoncé show in Houston, the team had just five days in the shop before heading to New Orleans for the Super Bowl.