If you stopped a random tourist in Austin, Texas this past weekend and asked them which major event brought them to town, you’d probably have gotten one of two answers. Truth be told, it was usually pretty easy to tell who was there for what.
The folks in red and black football jerseys were in town to see their beloved Georgia Bulldogs take on the No. 1 Texas Longhorns.
The ones wearing racing shirts and hats featuring brands like McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull were here for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
Given the crush of humanity, traffic, and demands of each event, you had to commit to one or the other for the weekend.
That is, except for ESPN, which was here to cover both.
The “ESPN Texas Takeover” saw the Bristol, Conn.-based company, and other arms of the Disney corporation, pull out all the stops for a weekend of nonstop sports coverage almost 2,000 miles away.
Before ABC broadcast the huge SEC showdown between Texas and Georgia on Saturday night, College GameDay and the ESPN Radio CFB Tailgate set up shop on the University of Texas campus.
Over at COTA, ESPN broadcast several episodes of SportsCenter (the first two-anchor SportsCenter show from a Formula 1 race), The Elle Duncan Show, and the Spanish-language show Ahora o Nunca. ABC’s Good Morning America and ESPN Deportes also covered the event all weekend.
While ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro recently said he wanted the company to move away from the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” label, the weekend was a way for the sports broadcaster to remind the media world what it can do.
“I think it shows the power of ESPN,” said, Kate Jackson, ESPN Vice President, Production, who oversees their Formula 1 Racing coverage, citing the immense “technical coordination” the company put in place.
ESPN has been targeting the weekend “for a while,” per Jackson. While GameDay’s commitment to coming to town came later, the planning and logistics to make the Texas Takeover a success started a long time ago.
“The Toronto Telebtubbies”@jess_sims quizzed some F1 drivers on college mascots on @CollegeGameDay 😭 @ESPNF1 pic.twitter.com/xCwgMNSrHz
— ESPN (@espn) October 19, 2024
While the people sitting at studio desks and speaking into microphones might get all the attention, the sheer number of people ESPN had on hand shows what it takes to pull off a weekend like this. The company had nearly 500 people working in Austin (124 at COTA, 175 at Texas-Georgia, and 189 specifically for College GameDay).
“The communication and details involved are pretty extensive,” said Jackson.
You don’t send that many people to one place and not consider the corporate synergy. GameDay analyst Nick Saban made a pitstop at COTA to drive a hot lap while Elle Duncan got a chance to ride with Max Verstappen.
Nick Saban pulled up and did a hot lap around an F1 track 🔥 pic.twitter.com/vX4f7X8DQk
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 18, 2024
“Watching my colleagues fall in love with the sport is invigorating,” said SportsCenter anchor and ESPN Formula 1 host Nicole Briscoe.
Jackson added that having people like Saban and Duncan at the racetrack “provides an entry point to Formula 1” for not only the talent but also fans of the sports they cover. Footage of Saban in the racecar, as well as Jess Sims’ asking F1 drivers to guess the names of college football mascots, were played during GameDay.
Having been a part of ESPN’s racing coverage since 2008, Briscoe appreciated what the weekend represented in terms of the company’s appreciation and growth over the years.
“The buy-in from the company has been amazing,” she said,” noting that production in the early days felt a bit like they were put together with “toothpicks and dental floss.” Now, she feels like she has the “best set and best seat in the house.”
While the weekend brought plenty of challenges (the sheer number of people in town did a number on cell service on Saturday), it appears to have paid off for ESPN. College GameDay, already riding a ratings wave, will no doubt see strong numbers again. The Texas-Georgia game started as a blowout but got competitive (and feisty) in the second half. Ben Herbstreit was on hand to steal the show. Finally, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen battled late before Charles Leclerc won a thrilling United States Grand Prix.
Sports and league schedules will dictate the next time ESPN can do a multi-sport takeover like this, but whenever it happens, it will be ready.
“It’s a chance for us to do what we’re good at,” added Briscoe. “This is why I got into the business.”
