This Bud's for ESPN

By John Eggerton
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

ESPN fans will be able to toast the sports cable network's 25th anniversary with some 300 million commemorative Bud Light cans, while nondrinkers can raise a cup of something called ESPN The Flavor, from Gatorade. Those are just some of the product tie-ins for the anniversary, the most such tie-ins in the network's history, according to ESPN.

According to Ed Erhardt, president of ESPN ABC Sports Customer Marketing and Sales, the network has also sold out sponsorship availabilities in its 30-plus hours of anniversary programming. Takers include blue chippers including Toyota, the aforementioned Bud Light and Gatorade, Nike, McDonald's, Degree and MasterCard.

The anniversary will culminate in four hours on Sept. 7, the network's 25th anniversary.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.