Stephen A. Smith may be the Nicolas Cage of sports media, and his most meta role yet came in a new ESPN App ad.
In the 30-second spot, Smith is cross-legged and meditative in the middle of a zen waterfall.
“I know what you’re thinking: Stephen A., why are you so calm?” Smith narrates in a hushed tone. “I found sports nirvana, y’all, and you can, too. Just follow the sound of my voice. College Football Playoff. Monday Night Football. And now, with NFL Network, all of it in the ESPN App. Did you find it? Goooood! Welcome home.”
“‘Sports Nirvana’ is the place all fans want to find, especially as we enter one of the busiest stretches on the sports calendar,” Jo Fox, Senior Vice President of Marketing at ESPN, said in ESPN’s official release. “It’s a campaign meant to be funny, unexpected and memorable by countering Stephen A. Smith’s unmistakable personality through the tranquility of the incredible depth of everything available within the ESPN App.”
Smith’s, um, interesting ad spot coincides with the one-year anniversary of ESPN launching its direct-to-consumer (DTC) service and “enhanced” app. In alignment with the ad’s tone, the DTC platform and new app required patience.
“It is the first inning,” ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro told Andrew Marchand of The Athletic last August. “I’ve been very clear, internally and externally, that this is a marathon, not a sprint. This is going to launch with significant enhancements, but not all the enhancements that we have on the roadmap. There is going to be a steady drumbeat of improvements weekly, monthly, annually.”
ESPN’s acquisition of NFL Network was approved in January, and the merger became official on April 1. By the end of July, NFL Network programming became available to ESPN subscribers with Unlimited-tier access in the app. Earlier this month, CW Sports’ live events also hit the app.
Additionally, according to ESPN’s official release, “the NFL, NFL Network, college football, College Football Playoff, NBA, US Open tennis, WWE, WNBA, NHL,” and more live in the app.
About Megan Armstrong
Since first getting published as a student by the Kansas City Star in 2013, Megan Armstrong has gone wherever curiosity and stories have taken her, specializing in sports, media, music, and culture coverage. She also has an extensive background in interviewing and profiling public figures. Her work has appeared in Billboard, Boardroom, Bleacher Report, Esquire, GQ, GRAMMY.com, NYLON, Newsweek, Teen Vogue, The Hollywood Reporter, UPROXX, and elsewhere.