ESPN starting today will kick off a twice-daily version of its SportsCenter franchise on Snapchat.
Two new daily episodes will air each weekday, one at 5 a.m. and one at 5 p.m. On weekends, only one new episode will air at 5 a.m. They will each be about 3-5 minutes in length and will include sports news, highlights and commentary.
The shows will call on a rotating cast of SportsCenter talent including Katie Nolan, Elle Duncan, Cassidy Hubbarth, Jason Fitz and Cy Amundson.
“SportsCenter on Snapchat provides a creative new format and platform for our flagship franchise to continue to evolve,” said Connor Schell, ESPN executive vice president of content, in a statement. “Katie, Elle, Cassidy, Jason and Cy collectively bring a new style, energy and substance that I believe will connect with Snapchat’s audience in a real way. I’m thrilled to bring this level of talent and personality to a new and innovative daily touchpoint for ESPN.”
“The original SportsCenter defined and changed the way people watched sports,” said Sean Mills, head of original content for Snap, in a statement. “Today the enormous changes resulting from technology, especially mobile, are having a huge impact on how sports fans follow their favorite players and teams, not to mention fundamentally changing the conversations around sports. There’s a huge opportunity to reimagine SportsCenter for this new medium—and we’re thrilled about the team and talent ESPN has assembled to do it.”
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The new SportsCenter for Snapchat continues with the network’s expanding digital strategy that will include the launch of a standalone streaming service early next year.
The service will feature 10,000 live regional, national and international games and events per year from leagues including Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, Grand Slam tennis and college sports.
Disney plans to offer the service through an updated version of the current ESPN app that also allows access to live sports via pay TV account authentication.