Where Are They Now?

Glenn Adamo

Men's Ice Hockey, 1974-77

The Super Bowl and UConn athletics have much in common, a never ending cycle of seasons, the tradition of excellence, a love for sport and competition, as well as Glenn Adamo.  

Adamo, a 1978 UConn graduate and former men’s ice hockey player is in charge of the many tasks involved with the broadcasting of the Super Bowl as the Vice President of Media Operations for the National Football League.

As a high school student in Brooklyn, N.Y., he did not always know what he wanted to do or where he was headed.  After being recruited by the late John Chapman, UConn’s ice hockey coach at the time, he knew that he would be looking at UConn.

After visiting Storrs, he fell in love with the campus and the atmosphere.

Adamo first began his interest in working with television when he completed two summer television classes at New York University, during the summer before his senior year of college.

When returning to UConn for classes he convinced his advisor, Dr. John Douglas, to let him participate in an internship for credit where he could continue with his interest in television. 

Adamo secured a 16 credit internship with Connecticut Public Television network in Hartford. While at CPTV, he was part of the production group that built sets, interviewed Rachel Robinson – the widow of baseball great Jackie Robinson --- and documented a speaking engagement with the Presidential Press Secretary.

After graduating from UConn in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science in physical education and sport physiology, Adamo took a job as a receptionist at NBC-TV.  A year later, he moved into the production department of NBC Sports, working in the Olympic Unit as a production assistant.

Through the 1980s, he continued his passion for sports media and earned the coordinating producer position at NBC Sports and in time won five Sports Emmys for his work.

In 1993, he returned to his love of ice hockey and made the switch to the National Hockey League and became the Group Vice President of Broadcasting.  He was then hired by the New Jersey Devils as the Vice President of Broadcasting and Community Development.

“I love sports, I grew up playing hockey, and played at UConn, eventually was able to work with the New Jersey Devils when they became the Stanley Cup Champions,” says Adamo.

In 2004, Adamo took at job with the NFL and became Vice President of Media Operations.  He is responsible for the production of day-to-day broadcasts, NFL’s flexible schedule, Direct TV, the NFL Films department and the NFL Cable Network.

He explains working for the NFL during the Super Bowl as, “a great time of the year, but for us the season never ends.”  Right after he is finished with the Super Bowl he has to start preproduction for the NFL Pro Bowl and the College Football Combine.

Adamo credits his love of sports media and his professional career to playing competitive sports growing up and at UConn.

“Competition is what we’re all after, competitive fibers change from competing against a team to competing with yourself,” says Adamo. “You have to constantly challenge yourself to be the best.”

Adamo currently resides in Manalapan, N.J., with Valerie, his wife of 27 years and two children, Greggory and Marissa. Greggory is currently a junior at Amherst College and is a member of the Division III men’s ice hockey team. His daughter Marissa is a senior in high school, a member of the National Honors Society and plays on the varsity high school soccer team.

--Barbie Steffen