wanna engage people then you need fresh new TV poker ideas - Pokerstars Big Game was one of the best innovations imo, and commentate on it properly.
I think the difference between NFL style geeky punditry and Poker geeky stuff is that people sort of understand the basics of the NFL before they hear it, and whereas it's a decent way above them they can sort of follow along and almost certainly pick up a little extra knowledge on the way. I don't think this is the same for poker, the words/phrases/concepts that top technical poker analysis involves is alien to most recreational players, and actually to a fair chunk of pros
I think an understanding of the audience (from the commentators) and a good TV concept and it'll be fine.