I can’t believe it’s been 25 seasons since College GameDay first started. And it began with Tim Brando, Lee Corso and Beano Cook. The cast now has Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Erin Andrews. Yes, the one constant has been Lee Corso. ESPN will mark the 25th season of GameDay with various promos that have been posted on YouTube and will hit the air after this weekend.
The promos will play on the eccentricities of coaches Les Miles of LSU and Chip Kelly of Oregon. Of course, the GameDay crew will be seen in the promos. Usually these are done well and they bring the humor. Here’s the press release and the videos.
ESPN Launches Campaign to Celebrate the 25th Season of College GameDay
First Two Spots Feature LSU Tigers Coach Les Miles and Oregon Ducks Coach Chip Kelly, Sooner Schooner and Oregon Beaver to Make Cameo As Well
In anticipation of the 25th season of ESPN’s Emmy Award winning College GameDay, ESPN has released a new series of six promotional spots which will debut online on August 25 and on air on August 29. LSU’s Coach Les Miles and the University of Oregon’s Coach Chip Kelly guest star in the first two of the series.
Playing off of the personality inherent in every College GameDay show, the Miles spot centers on the coach’s celebrated quirks, including the weekly tradition of eating grass at each of the stadiums in which his team plays. The commercial featuring Coach Kelly showcases the Ducks’ unique sideline signaling system, which continues to confound opponents and analysts alike. Oklahoma’s Sooner Schooner and Benny Beaver from Oregon State will make appearances in future spots. Benny Beaver won 39 percent of an online voteconducted through Facebook, which allowed fans from six different schools to vote on which mascot head should be featured in the campaign.
Wong, Doody, Crandall, Wiener is the creative agency for the campaign.
ESPN’s College GameDay will return for its 25th season Saturday, Sept. 3, live from the neutral site of the Cowboys Classic at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, beginning at 9 a.m. ET on ESPNU and from 10-noon on ESPN. In a much anticipated opening weekend game, Oregon will face LSU in the Classic as part of the weekly Saturday Night Football series at 8 p.m. on ABC. The College GameDay set will be located outside the state-of-the art facility.
Once again the show will feature host Chris Fowler and analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard during the 10-noon hours on ESPN. Erin Andrews will anchor the first hour on ESPNU at 9 a.m., and contribute reports, interviews and features throughout the latter two hours. Reporter Tom Rinaldi will also provide weekly features, and new this year, current ESPN analyst and former NFL player David Pollack will join in a contributing role.
The three-time Emmy-Award winning program will originate from the campuses of Michigan and Florida State during the second and third weeks of the season, respectively. On Sept. 10, College GameDay will head to Ann Arbor – site of the annual rivalry game between Michigan and Notre Dame (on ESPN at 8 p.m.), and week three will be in Tallahassee featuring Florida State versus projected No. 1 Oklahoma (on ABC or ESPN at 7:30 p.m. or 8 p.m.).
Let’s take a look at the spots. Here’s the promo featuring LSU Coach Les Miles playing off his eating grass.
And this is the promo poking fun at Oregon coach Chip Kelly’s crazy signaling system.
And that’s going to do it.
