The Rolling Stones will be all over ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” coverage this year — except during the introduction.
Sports Business Daily reported Monday that ESPN will no longer use musicians or music groups on the “Monday Night Football” introduction, as has become the common practice on most sports telecasts.
Instead of replacing Hank Williams Jr.‘s “All My Rowdy Friends” theme, ESPN will instead air video packages related to the game being played.
“MNF” senior coordinating producer Jay Rothman told Sports Business Daily that ESPN chose to use the weekly themed video packages “rather than chase the next artist and the next song” (Sports Business Daily, 9/10).
That thought process flies in stark contrast to what is typical at ESPN. NBA coverage on ESPN/ABC, for example, has used pop singers ranging from Justin Timberlake to Nicole Scherzinger on the introduction for nearly a decade.
With that said, there will be plenty of popular music on “Monday Night Football” this season. ESPN announced last week that sixteen tracks from The Rolling Stones will be used throughout the season on pregame, game and postgame coverage.
Beyond the NFL, there was no sign of the trend toward pop music stars abating any time soon. In a press release Monday, ESPN touted the addition of Kid Rock music to NASCAR Chase For the Cup telecasts. The singer will also “narrate and appear” in opening teases.
(Monday’s news from Sports Business Daily, with additional information from ESPN Media Zone)
