ESPN Original Entertainment will debut several series in April.
Among new fare from ESPN’s original-programming unit:
• It’s the Shoes, eight half-hour episodes examining the sneaker collections of some of today’s biggest athletes, will air on ESPN2 Tuesdays from April 4-May 24 at 1 a.m. (EST). “Sneaker savant” and New York-area DJ Bobbito Garcia will host.
• Immediately following It’s the Shoes on ESPN2 at 1:30 a.m. will be 2 Live Stews, in which brothers Ryan and Doug Stewart take a break from their Atlanta-based SportsRap radio show to share their views and opinions on the latest in sports. ESPN2 ordered eight half-hour episodes of 2 Live Stews, as well.
• U.S Paintball Championships presented by Vault will pit eight professional teams against each other in a round-robin format to claim a $50,000 prize. It will air on ESPN2 Mondays from April 10-May 29 at 10 p.m.
• “Streetballers” from around the country will compete for slam-dunk supremacy in City Slam, set to air on ESPN2 Tuesday from April 11-May 23 at 1 a.m. Host Dee Brown will be joined by judges Darryl Dawkins, Spud Webb and Kenny Walker.
• Battle of the Gridiron Stars presented by Goodyear, to air on ESPN Tuesdays from April 11-May 16 at 9 p.m., will pit 18 football stars -- including Peyton and Eli Manning, Jake Delhomme, Joey Porter and Hines Ward -- against each other in an American Football Conference vs. National Football Conference format.
• Free Agent will take viewers behind the scenes of baseball’s free-agency period with agent Scott Boras. It will air on ESPN2 Thursday, April 13 at 11:30 p.m. and Thursday, April 20 at 10 p.m.
