Tagged: ‘2014 FIFA Worl…’

posted by on February 8, 2013 1:15 PM

Fan Central Mailbag: Bubble Watch returns; ‘A Reason To Win’; tickets to SportsNation shows

Screen-shot-2012-11-28-at-4.20.25-PM1Welcome to another edition of the Fan Central Mailbag. Remember, if you have an ESPN-related question, follow us @ESPN_FanCentral and use #FanCentralMB to tweet your questions. You can also e-mail them to FanCentral@ESPN.com.

Before we dive into your latest batch of questions, here’s a quick schedule update. Baseball Tonight (@ESPN_BBTN) debuts this Monday at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2. This season’s Baseball Tonight Goodyear Express Tour starts Monday at the World Champion San Francisco Giants’ spring training site in Scottsdale, Ariz. Baseball Tonight will begin at 3 p.m. the rest of next week. Here’s the full spring training tour schedule.

Now, onto your questions . . .

There was a story on SportsCenter about an email [Baltimore] Ravens coach John Harbaugh received from someone named Mike, who is physically challenged. The story talked about how the team was inspired by the email. Is that story available for me to watch again? — Merle
This is a great story that everyone should watch at least once. A quick summary: 21-year-old Ravens fan Matthew Jeffers, who has Skeletal Dysplasia, sent Harbaugh an inspirational email titled A Reason to Win following the eventual Super Bowl Champion Ravens’ third consecutive loss heading into Week 16 of the season.

When will the NCAA men’s basketball Bubble Watch be available? — Justin continue reading…

Filed in: ESPN Fan Central

posted by on February 6, 2013 4:27 PM

Teamwork in two languages, across ESPN platforms produces feature on El Tri, ManU star Chicharito

With respect to the likes of Landon Donovan and David Beckham, Mexico’s Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez is arguably the most popular soccer player in this part of the world.

Tonight at historic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Chicharito and the Mexican National Team (El Tri) will kick off the final round of qualifying matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil against Jamaica (ESPN2 and WatchESPN at 9:30 p.m. ET).

A week from today, the Mexican striker will join his Premier League club in Spain when Manchester United faces nine-time European champions Real Madrid FC in the first leg of an away-and-home series in the 2012-2013 UEFA Champions League’s Round of 16.

Heading into these two huge matches, ESPN sought to profile the 24-year-old striker, who has taken English football by storm with 46 goals in 106 ManU matches, often as a substitute.

The task of securing ESPN’s multi-language profile of the El Tri star was assigned to coordinating producer Ursula Pfeiffer in ESPN’s cross-platform newsgathering unit.

Despite the daunting nature of the project, Pfeiffer knew she would have the help she needed, thanks to the resources available through ESPN’s English and Spanish-language domestic networks, as well as the network’s content team in Latin America.

“This required great cooperation on all fronts, but that is primarily what we do,” said Pfeiffer. “We are constantly looking for opportunities to serve fans by providing content in many languages for television and online via ESPN FC, the company’s digital soccer hub.”

Here’s how the feature came to fruition: continue reading…

Filed in: Behind The Scenes

posted by on January 30, 2013 1:00 PM

ESPN acquires U.S., English-language rights to Mexican National Team soccer through 2014 FIFA World Cup

ESPN has acquired the English-language rights to the Mexican National Team (El Tri) in the United States through the completion of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil via an agreement with Univision, which retains the team’s U.S. Spanish-language rights.

The deal, for the first time in the U.S., gives El Tri fans a consistent English-language home for the team’s matches, while also granting ESPN highlights rights for its popular studio programs such as SportsCenter, ESPN FC Press Pass, First Take, SportsNation and more.

Scott Guglielmino

Scott Guglielmino

Front Row caught up with Scott Guglielmino, senior vice president for programming and Global X, to discuss the rights agreement with Univision:

Why did ESPN make this deal?
ESPN is committed to reaching the widest possible audience with programming that is relevant to the sports and teams that they follow. As the number of English-speaking U.S. Hispanic households continues to increase, it makes sense for ESPN to carry sports events and cover sports news relevant to that audience.

How does ESPN’s coverage of the Mexican National Team fit into the company’s overall soccer content strategy? continue reading…

Filed in: Announcements, Behind The Scenes