Nets-Knicks is getting a “RetroCast” next week on ESPN2

To celebrate the NBA’s 75th anniversary, ESPN is rolling out a new broadcast option next week for Wednesday’s Nets-Knicks matchup: the RetroCast.

Per Variety, the major changes for the RetroCast will include graphics, music, and presentation.

The game will open in black and white and use graphics that evoke ABC’s 1960s coverage, then shift to a look that mirrors CBS’ NBA telecasts of the 1970s and 1980s. Look for a presentation that emulates NBC’s 1990s telecasts as well, complete with that network’s signature music. Viewers may even hear a snippet of the theme from ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” before all is done. Guests will include several top players. coaches and broadcasters who have been central to the game throughout the years, all part of a tribute to the NBA’s 75th anniversary. 

The standard broadcast will air on ESPN, so put the pitchforks back in the shed if this isn’t your thing. Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Lisa Salters will be on the call of the game, and Hubie Brown will make appearances over the evening.

ESPN’s release shared an example of the graphics that will be featured during the game, with each quarter using a different graphic.

It also appears that ESPN dug deep into NBA history for the RetroCast, even reaching out to some of the league’s former broadcasters.

ESPN producers had to scour archival footage to figure how how to come up with versions of old graphics, and went to the network’s sports rivals to license their game music when necessary, says Corrigan. “We literally went back and grabbed old games and looked through them, took assets from different decades and used them as inspiration to build out a look,” he says.

Alright, so sight unseen….I don’t hate this idea. It sounds fun. We’re all about different graphics and music, and those seem like the main changes with this broadcast. Hell, my only major gripe is why ESPN waited so long to roll this out. There’s only a week and a half left in the NBA regular season! If the timing was better, maybe we could have gotten several “RetroCasts,” perhaps even with participation from the teams (throwback jerseys, etc). I think that would have taken this to another level.

[Variety]