Our long national nightmare is over: the newest This is SportsCenter ad has premiered, the first new ad in the campaign since 2019.
The ad, which aired during the Orange Bowl on Friday night, features USWNT players Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Sophia Smith, ESPN’s Nicole Briscoe, and Syracuse mascot Otto the Orange.
That’s not bad! It got a smirk out of me.
Future ads will air across 2023. The only announced athlete is Sydney McLaughlin, though ESPN’s Elle Duncan, Jay Harris, Kevin Negandhi, and Hannah Storm were mentioned in the company’s release, along with “memorable mascots.” Hopefully, that means we’ll be getting some Gritty.
Back in November, AdWeek reported that ESPN would be bringing the campaign back, partnering with creative agency Arts & Letters. The premiere date was expected to be sometime in early 2023, but the first ad debuted before the calendar flipped.
[ESPN]
About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.