ESPN is airing “College Gameday” prior to ACC Network’s debut game. Also: ESPN’s Bill Walton will be a guest analyst on a Major League Baseball game; Boomer Esiason is leaving Inside the NFL; ESPN will use a teenage broadcast team for the Little League World Series.
College Gameday to air prior to ACC Network’s first game
ESPN will air a special edition of “College Gameday” on August 29, the opening Thursday of the college football season. The traveling studio show will take place from Clemson, where the Tigers will host Georgia Tech in the first game ever on the new ACC Network. Coverage will air from 6-8 PM ET, with the first hour on ESPN and the second hour on SEC Network.
The traditional “Gameday” season premiere will take place from Fort Worth, Tex., for Auburn-Oregon. [ESPN PR 8.8]
Walton to guest analyze White Sox game
ESPN college basketball analyst Bill Walton will serve as a guest analyst on next Friday’s White Sox-Angels Major League Baseball game on NBC Sports Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune. Walton will pair with regular White Sox voice and ESPN colleague Jason Benetti, with whom he worked Maui Invitational games last season. [Chicago Tribune 8.9 via Awful Announcing 8.9]
Esiason leaving Inside the NFL
ESPN2 to use 15, 16-year-olds, on LLWS broadcast
ESPN announced Thursday that it will televise an alternate Little League World Series broadcast featuring 15 and 16-year-olds in the play-by-play, analyst, and sideline reporter roles on August 21. The so-called “Kidscast” will air on ESPN2 opposite traditional game coverage on ESPN. [ESPN PR 8.8]
