The Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals have become something of a spring institution in sports and pop culture, settling in to that soft spot of the schedule as the NBA and NHL playoffs are reaching their climax, the division races in MLB are beginning to take shape and nearly all TV shows have gone on summer hiatus.
As movies such as Spellbound, Akeelah and the Bee and Bad Words have shown, spelling bees provide rich material for drama and comedy (I’ve always enjoyed Tony Kornheiser referring to the contestants as “twitchy little freaks,” as mean-spirited as that might seem), as well as the sort of awe that comes from watching people at their very best excel under the most stressful of circumstances.
But really, it’s ESPN that has put the National Spelling Bee Finals on the cultural map and sports calendar, putting live programming of the event on its networks and staffing those broadcasts with notable on-air talent such as Mike & Mike, Erin Andrews and ABC’s Tom Bergeron. Would you believe ESPN has televised the spelling bee finals for the past 21 years?
https://youtu.be/ZU2L6BBDzw0
The network’s 22nd year of Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals coverage will be yet again be comprehensive with ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 combining to provide 14 hours of coverage on May 27 and 28 live from Washington, D.C. ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app will broadcast all preliminary rounds of the event on Wednesday beginning at 8 a.m. ET. On Thursday, ESPN2 will add a third channel of coverage for the semifinals starting at 10 a.m., and then ESPN will cover the championship finals (along with ESPN3) live at 8 p.m.
If you watch the spelling bee finals on ESPN3 and WatchESPN, a feature once again included with the event’s coverage will be an interactive “Play-Along” game that viewers can play while watching the competition. “Play-Along” will offer a multiple-choice of the word in question, giving you a one-in-three chance of picking its correct spelling. This year, the online feature will also have information about each word’s etymology, definition, pronunciation and how it would be used in a sentence. Each contestant’s bio and live tweets during the event will also be part of the on-screen experience.
As you would expect, ESPN will also provide plenty of content between each contestant’s turn on stage. Broadcasts will include highlights from the past 20 years of spelling bee coverage, profiles of various champion spellers (including hobbies and aspirations) and in-depth features on contestants who are competing again or have a connection to current participants.
This year’s spelling bee coverage will be hosted by Chris McKendry, who will also provide word-by-word commentary during the competition. Paul Loeffler, a finalist in the 1990 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals, is back for the 10th consecutive year to provide analysis. And Kaylee Hartung, whose work you can see on SportsCenter and the SEC Network, returns for her second year as the broadcast’s sideline reporter.
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