One night after a “Marvel”-themed NBA broadcast, ESPN plans to dip back into the corporate synergy well with a “Star Wars” themed baseball game.
ESPN announced Monday that its scheduled Astros-Yankees Major League Baseball game Tuesday night will be “Star Wars”-themed, with the broadcast team of Karl Ravech, Tim Kurkjian and Eduardo Perez dressed as characters from the series (Luke Skywalker, Yoda and a Jawa, respectively). A Darth Vader-clad Steve Levy is to handle studio updates.
The rationale for the broadcast is that Tuesday is May 4, or “May the Fourth” — a play on the Star Wars line “may the force [be with you].” As should go without saying, ESPN parent company Disney owns Star Wars.
Unlike Monday’s planned “Marvel”-themed NBA broadcast of Warriors-Pelicans, which will be a separate, alternate presentation on ESPN2 and ESPN+, the Star Wars-themed baseball broadcast will be ESPN’s primary presentation of the game. It will include custom on-screen graphics and Star Wars-themed segments, including Clinton Yates discussing MLB names that have Star Wars ties and Kurkjian highlighting his “favorite FORCE plays of all-time.”
While ESPN has long promoted Disney properties — including debuting a Star Wars trailer during the halftime of Monday Night Football — the use of full-length game broadcasts as promotional tools is seemingly new.
[News from ESPN PR 5.3]
