Danielle Bellini Talks About Madden 25

The role of sideline reporter in a football video game is an aspect of the game that is often overlooked and considered small by consumers who just care about playing the game itself. For Madden 25 sideline reporter Danielle Bellini, the role is anything but minor.

After finding out about the opening via a phone call from someone close to the game’s production, Bellini knew she had to put her name in the hat for the sideline reporter role. After an audition that involved reciting some lines and giving her own twist to the role, Bellini was selected to be the woman “walking” the sidelines in the 25th Anniversary edition of Madden NFL.

“It came out of nowhere,” Bellini said of the opportunity. “Once it happened, though, it kind of felt right. Somethings, when you do them, they just feel like a match. This was one of them.”

Bellini spent months traveling back and forth to the recording booth to record lines for the game. While one would expect it to just be a person in front of microphone and reading off a sheet of paper, Bellini said that she was given the freedom to go off script in order to make the recordings sound as natural as possible.

“(They would give me) tips like, ‘Hey, this is the beginning of the season; this is the middle of the season; we’re at the super bowl!’,” she said. “I would just go with the content, and was free to let loose and add my own inflections; my own thoughts.”

The Emmy-award winner said that hosting her own sports show prepared her a little for this position, but she still did extra preparation to make sure everything came out as good as possible.

“(I) listened to as much football as possible,” Bellini said. “Football at home, in the car and I even had sideline reports downloaded on my phone. I had friends practice with me too.”

As to whether or not she’ll be back for future editions of the game, Bellini said she had no information on that subject at this time.

She added: “To do it again would just blow me away.”

For more on Bellini and the process of recording the voiceovers for the game, how long the recording took and what she did to get in the right mindset for the job, check out the full interview at our sister site Gamesided.com.