‘You deserve to be there’: Young producer earns spot on broadcast team for Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl

February 4, 2025  |  Nikki Overfelt Chifalu

Caroline Muth, Tico Sports, Tico Productions; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

From a spot high above the field at Caesars Superdome, Caroline Muth hopes to help usher in the sound of history this Super Bowl Sunday, the Kansas City native shared. Win or lose, she’s already making (and controlling) waves in the male-dominated world of sports broadcasting, her team said.

Muth is headed for a radio booth in New Orleans this weekend, working as a studio production assistant for Kansas City-based Tico Sports, the official Spanish-language radio broadcaster for both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles during Super Bowl LIX.

As a member of the Chiefs broadcast production team, Muth is experiencing her third Super Bowl with the crew (and second big game on location). The 2023 University of Kansas grad is crossing her fingers that the Tico Sports team gets to make the call for a KC three-peat, she said.

“But regardless of whether the Chiefs win, we’re witnessing history,” Muth explained. “We had an incredible season; it would be nice to get that win, to put that little cherry on top of our year.”

“I’m excited to go down there, maybe meet some players, get some cool interviews, and just live in the moment,” she added. “We’re there to work for Tico Sports, but I’m still going to be able to soak it all in.”

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Tico Sports Chiefs en Espanol Broadcast team at the Jan. 18 Houston vs Chiefs divisional game; courtesy photo

Untapped potential

Tico Sports — a division of Tico Productions that launched in 2016 — produced more than 100 games across six NFL teams (Kansas City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Jacksonville, Denver, and Minnesota) during the 2024 season, according to the company. The Latino-owned small business proudly represents the growing Latino fan base — scaling in recent years to provide high-energy broadcasts that resonate with diverse audiences.

“It’s really an honor and a privilege to be a part of Tico Sports broadcasts, as well as the company,” Muth said. “The Latino market represents a huge demographic that is largely untapped. I take pride in being part of a really special team that produces a quality, engaging, exciting broadcast that people of all kinds can listen to.”

As a producer, Muth is typically behind the scenes for Chiefs radio broadcasts — as well as for games featuring the Kansas City Royals, KC Current, and KU — running commercials and making sure all the audio levels are OK, she explained. 

“The referees, the crowd noise — anything audible that you hear over the broadcast — it’s all at my controls,” she continued. “So it’s very, very fun, very cool.”

Muth — a lifelong sports fan — is traveling Thursday to New Orleans along with Tico team members, where they’ll set up for events on radio row, putting together video and audio packages, and gearing up for the big day.

“It’s really exciting to be part of a potentially third Super Bowl winning team,” she noted.

As a visibly identifiable Chiefs media team, the crew received heckles from opposing fans at the Super Bowl in 2024 in Las Vegas, Muth recalled.

“But it was just so cool to be behind the scenes of the biggest stage in the American sports world,” she added. “We got to witness our hometown team go the distance.”

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‘Lean into this niche’

Muth first joined Tico Sports as an intern during the summer before her senior year at KU, she shared. As a film and digital media major, she already had experience in video and sound editing.

“When I was at school, I thought that I was going to be a cinematographer, behind the camera,” Muth explained. “I never wanted to act or anything like that. I’m always more comfortable behind the scenes. But I never really realized that I had an interest in audio production until I came here.”

She started off doing mostly video editing, she continued, until Tico founder Oscar

Monterroso asked her if she’d been interested in helping with sound. Although she still enjoys video work, audio production — like on commercials and audio books — has become her speciality.

“Being here at Tico really helped me find my interest and passion for sound and audio,” Muth said. “They really encouraged me to lean into this niche area. We have other people here who do graphic design work and video work, but I’ve kind of become the audio person here.”

“She’s a vital part of Tico Sports,” added Monterroso, who also is the Chiefs play-by-play announcer for the Tico team. “It’s a blessing that she’s here and that we’ve been able to see her grow.”

Oscar Monterroso, Cici Rojas, Hannah Bassham and Caroline Muth at the Chiefs vs Dolphins matchup Nov. 5, 2023, in Frankfurt Germany; courtesy photo

Muth knows it isn’t always easy to forge a path as a woman in the male-dominated sports radio broadcasting industry, she shared. But it’s been helpful to learn from color analyst Hannah Bassham on the Chiefs Tico Sports team. In 2024, Bassham made history as the first woman in NFL history to serve as a color analyst for a radio broadcast of the Super Bowl.

“When I first came into this producer role, it was really amazing to see another woman in that kind of role in a male-dominated field,” Muth noted. “It’s a large part of why I’ve stayed. I saw that she had been doing this for such a long time — and that I could also be an integral part of the team and make my name as a woman in this radio field.”

Her advice to other women looking to follow in her or Bassham’s footsteps: be open to new experiences and don’t be afraid to step into the roles you want, she said.

“Women and girls tend to limit themselves,” Muth explained. “And it can be difficult in this arena. But I would say, ‘Step in and stand your ground. You deserve to be there.’ Women deserve to be in the sports world — not just in playing sports — in broadcasting, in the analyst world, etc.”

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