A Couple of ESPN World Cup Announcements

I’ve been waiting for two ESPN press releases, one on Monday Night Football’s ratings for the Pats-Saints and the other officially announcing the ESPN Los Angeles local sports website. But I received the following two releases instead, not that I mind, I’m totally into the World Cup every four years.

First, ESPN announces that it will carry the World Cup Draw this Friday on multiple platforms (of course) and globally (of course).

ESPN Presents 2010 FIFA World Cup Draw Dec. 4

Multiplatform Coverage – U.S. and International TV, Broadband, Digital, and more

ESPN will provide comprehensive coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Draw across its U.S. domestic and international media assets Friday, Dec. 4, beginning with ESPN2 HD’s live, three-hour 2010 FIFA World Cup Draw at 12 p.m. ET. Highlights:

U.S. networks:

• ESPN2 HD – 2010 FIFA World Cup Draw (12 – 3 p.m.): Bob Ley will host with former World Cup stars Efan Ekoku, John Harkes, Alexi Lalas and Steve McManaman providing analysis from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios;

• Jeremy Schaap will provide live reports throughout the day from the Cape Town International Convention Center in South Africa, site of the Draw;

• Additional FIFA World Cup pre- and post-Draw coverage on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, First Take (ESPN2), ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike in the Morning (simulcast on ESPN2), SportsNation (ESPN2), and more;

• ESPN Deportes, the Spanish-language sports network which last week announced it will present up to 40 Portuguese-language World Cup matches live in the U.S. in 2010, will cover the draw with analysis, predictions and post-Draw reactions – a precursor to the network’s “game-around-the-game” approach to the event in 2010, anchored by David Faitelson and 1998 FIFA World Cup winner Mario Kempes in Bristol, with Jose Ramon Fernandez, Daniel Brailovsky, Rafa Puente, Carlos Albert and Ciro Procuna in Mexico City. John Sutcliffe, Raul Taquini and Dan Williams will report from Cape Town throughout the network’s seven hours of live programming around the Draw;

• For the first time ever, ESPN Radio will broadcast SportsCenter Presents the 2010 FIFA World Cup Draw Show, a 60-minute special (also on ESPNRadio.com) at 4 p.m. with host Doug Brown and featuring ESPN international soccer analyst Tommy Smyth, U.S. Soccer and MLS reporter Allen Hopkins and reporting from Cape Town by Schaap.

ESPN2’s 2010 FIFA World Cup Draw Friday, Dec. 4, at 12 noon

In addition to commentary, news highlights and analysis, ESPN2’s live presentation of the Draw will include the following segments:

• Live interview with Morgan Freeman, who stars as Nelson Mandela, in the soon-to-be-released movie Invictus, attempting to use the 1995 Rugby World Cup to unite his people after the fall of apartheid by ESPN X Games and E! network’s Daily 10 host Sal Masekela;

• Schaap’s exclusive interview with U.S. striker Charlie Davies, who was injured in an automobile accident in the outskirts of Washington, D.C., on the eve of the U.S. Team’s last FIFA World Cup qualifying match vs. Costa Rica;

• Interview with David Beckham;

• Features about Soweto, Gumboot dancing and RAGA-BOLO – a South African street soccer tradition;

• ESPN’s World Cup play-by-play commentator Martin Tyler, who has called all World Cups since 1978 will offer insight, live from England;

• U.S. striker Jozy Altidore, currently playing in the Barclays Premier League, will be interviewed;

• Post-Draw interview with U.S. National Men’s Soccer Team manager Bob Bradley from Cape Town;

• Rob Stone will report from New York City’s famed football bar Nevada Smiths.

Digital outlets:

• ESPN360.com, the sports broadband network, will feature two channels dedicated to the Draw: ESPN2’s live coverage, and a live, uninterrupted feed of the FIFA 2010 World Cup Draw from Cape Town;

• ESPN Mobile TV will stream ESPN2’s live coverage of the Draw;

• ESPN.com, ESPNsoccernet.com and ESPNDeportes.com will combine to offer opinion and in-depth analysis from a
  variety of soccer experts;

• ESPN Mobile will launch 2010 FIFA World Cup Draw applications, kicking off a series of ESPN’s FIFA World Cup branded content.

International networks:

• ESPN Brazil: Narrator and presenter João Palomino and Paulo Vinícius Coelho will host a 2-and-1/2-hour live Draw program from São Paulo with reporter André Plihal in Cape Town;

• ESPN Latin American networks will feature Draw-related coverage with reactions, analysis and live video from select countries in the finals. Highlights of day include special World Cup Draw editions of Camino a Sudafrica, SportsCenter, Fuera de Juego, Juego Cruzado and Cronometro;

• ESPN International’s popular soccer debate and opinion show, ESPNSoccernet Press Pass, will feature reactions and analysis from past World Cup stars. The FIFA World Cup Draw special will feature host Adrian Healey with 1998 World Cup winner Frank Lebeouf (France) and Trinidad and Tobago’s 2006 World Cup goalkeeper Shaka Hislop providing analysis from ESPN’s Bristol studios. Special guests will include ex-England midfielder McManaman, ESPN International soccer analyst Smyth and Andrew Orsatti. The program will be aired on ESPN UK, in the Pacific Rim, Atlantic, and the Caribbean regions, as well as the Middle East and Israel. It will also be featured on ESPN360.com in the United States.

FIFA World Cup Draw:

The Draw will kickoff ESPN’s unprecedented coverage of the month-long, 64-match sporting event in South Africa June 11 – July 11, 2010.

• The Draw will place the 32 teams who have qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (see below) into eight groups of four teams. The teams in each group play three matches in a round-robin phase with the top two teams from each group advancing to the round of 16 single-elimination phase.

• Leading up to the Draw, the FIFA executive committee selects eight teams (including the host team) as the FIFA World Cup Finals’ top seeds (one per group).

• No two teams from the same zone or confederation – except teams from the European Zone (UEFA) – can be placed in the same group.

In addition, ESPN has launched a new World Cup microsite for your computer and your mobile.

ESPN Launches Global Microsite for the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Additional content from ESPN Fantasy Sports, ESPN Mobile debuts for the 2010 World Cup Draw

ESPN today has launched the first phase of its global online destination for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The site — www.ESPNsoccernet.com/WorldCup — is the home for news, features and coverage on the World Cup for ESPN.com, ESPNsoccernet.com and ESPNdeportes.com, providing a single destination with a global perspective in language (World Cup news and information in English and Spanish), terminology (English U.S. and English Global) and content authentic to users who visit. Live digital coverage starts this Friday, Dec. 4 with the 2010 World Cup Draw in Cape Town, airing live from 12-2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.

ESPN World Cup Microsite

At launch, the microsite will feature content and tools following every moment of the Draw. Soccer fans from around the world will have access to up-to-the-minute news, highlights and analysis breaking down the results and final schedule, including:

• Live Draw application – A countdown clock ticks down to the final seconds until the Draw, where fans can log on and follow in real-time each World Cup group selection from the team pools until the final schedule is announced;

• News & Analysis – Profiles on World Cup qualifying teams and players plus breaking news and analysis from across ESPN.com, ESPNsoccernet.com and ESPNdeportes.com, including reports from a global team in the U.S., Mexi
  co City, Buenos Aires and South Africa, Andrew Warshaw live from Cape Town, post-draw analysis from Harry Harris and a panel of regional experts;

• Cover It Live conversations – Log on and share your thoughts and comments as the Draw unfolds with U.S. national team player Jimmy Conrad, renowned soccer writers Leander Schaerlaeckens and Jeff Carlisle among other special guests moderated by soccer editor Jen Chang for ESPN.com; Warshaw for ESPNsoccernet.com; and ESPN Deportes and International soccer announcer Fernando Palomo for ESPNdeportes.com.

ESPN Mobile

In preparation for the Draw, ESPN Mobile will also launch a free ESPN World Cup App available in the App Store. The app will feature live draw results updated in real-time in a visually rich, immersive experience. Other features of the app include:

• Exclusive breaking news and analysis;
• Expert profiles of all 32 teams, key players and groups;
• Live countdown to the 2010 World Cup kickoff on June 11;
• A full schedule of matches with venue information and World Cup history;
• Mobile fantasy bracket management for the ESPN World Cup Bracket Predictor game;
• Personalization features with social media tools to submit fan comments.
  

Future updates to the app will include alerts, community features, live scores, GameCast, video content and more. Fans with access to the ESPNsoccernet mobile Web site can also find Draw coverage, breaking news, team summaries, player profiles and more.

ESPN Fantasy Sports

Sign-ups will also be open this week for the new ESPN World Cup Bracket Predictor game, the first of four customized fantasy games around the World Cup. The fantasy game is available in both English and Spanish languages to anyone around the world via the ESPN World Cup microsite, mobile app and coming soon to the mobile Web.

Soon after the draw is announced on Friday, Dec. 4, players will be able to make their group stage picks and predict how the bracket of 16 will play out through the knockout stage until one team remains. Residents in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and U.K. will also be eligible to win prizing for first and second place for the top brackets with the most correct picks.

ESPN is devoting a lot of resources to airing the World Cup, borrowing NBC’s all-out approach for the Olympics to bringing the games to the United States. As a soccer fan, it’s nice to see ESPN developing its plans for the World Cup. In the past, it had purchased the rights from a third party and hardly promoted the event. Now we’re seeing its promotional power behind the World Cup and if ESPN gets the 2014 and 2016 Olympics, it could be a harbinger of how it covers the Games.