NASCAR on ESPN Digital Media

- Digitally Driven: ESPN360.com, ESPN.com, Jayski.com, ESPN Mobile Connect Fans To Racing Anywhere, Anytime
- Also: SportsNation, Widgets Connect Racing Fans to Each Other, ESPN

February 5, 2008 -- NASCAR’s second season back with ESPN will expand on last year’s extensive multimedia coverage, and help racing fans stay connected throughout the season. ESPN will leverage the full strength of its many digital assets, led by its digital media cornerstones, ESPN.com, ESPN360.com (broadband service) and ESPN’s multiple mobile platforms (including the leading wireless Web sports site, ESPN MVP on Verizon Wireless and ESPN Mobile TV on MediaFLO and MobiTV), as well as go-to NASCAR insider destination Jayski.com.

Coverage throughout the season will include live streaming racing coverage, extensive highlights and feature video, expert reporting and analysis, news, commentary, rumors and rumblings, multiple fantasy games, podcasts and more.

“No one brings you closer to the speed, excitement and personalities of NASCAR than ESPN,” said John Kosner, senior vice president and general manager, ESPN Digital Media. “No matter what device a racing fan has available, we’ll bring them the best possible NASCAR information and entertainment – and when they want to move from one device to another, our aim is to make that a completely seamless experience.”

ESPN360.com

ESPN360.com, the company’s signature broadband sports network, will provide full, live simulcasts all ESPN and ESPN2 NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series races. Additionally, ESPN’s signature pre-race program, NASCAR Countdown, will also be carried live on ESPN360.com each race day. Simulcasts will also be available on-demand for a period following their completion.

All of ESPN360.com’s coverage will be available through the service’s dynamic, multi-screen interface that allows fans to have complete control over the top-quality online video viewing experience. Fans can pause, rewind and fast forward live and on-demand action, and have multiple viewing configuration options (compact, mosaic, full screen).

ESPN360.com delivers a full schedule of more than 2,500 live global sports events per year. The service is available at no additional charge to any fan who receives their high-speed Internet connection from an ESPN-affiliated service provider. It has doubled its distribution since November 2006, and is available in approximately 20 million households nationwide through more than 20 Internet service providers including AT&T, Verizon, RCN, Frontier, Cavalier, Charter, Mediacom, Conway, Grande and more. For more information about ESPN360.com, which high speed Internet services currently provide it, and how consumers can get, go to www.espn360.com .

ESPN.com and Jayski.com

ESPN.com, along with Jayski.com, will feature extensive video, audio and editorial coverage of the 2008 NASCAR season, as well as providing multiple ESPN Fantasy games and content distributed to other emerging platforms such as Apple’s iTunes Store and Microsoft’s X Box Live.

As part ESPN.com’s integration with Jayski.com, veteran racing voice Mark Garrow will be a frequent contributor this year. Garrow will produce six weekly podcasts, focusing on both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Tour and each featuring a Fantasy NASCAR segment. Garrow’s online presence will also include regular chats on ESPN.com, video segments and appearances on NASCAR Now.

ESPN.com coverage will include:

Online Video

* ESPN.com RaceCast: ESPN.com’s enhanced, live race-day application features ESPN360.com’s live coverage of Sprint and Nationwide races, coupled with an in-race animated graphic display, track information, lap leaders, race leaders, driver information and live in-race chat with ESPN NASCAR announcers and reporters.
* Video Highlights: Extensive video highlights from every Nationwide and Sprint Cup race on ESPN.com and Jayski.com. Fans can find concise highlights packages that bring them the top moments of each race as well as extended highlights packages that examine turning points in the race, strategies and more.
* Surrounding Action: Additional video from each race, including insider features, practice and qualifying footage, interviews with drivers, pit teams, extensions to ESPN studio programming (including exclusive online segments from ESPN’s signature program, NASCAR Now) and video blogs covering major news and events.
* Season-Long Driver Capsules: ESPN.com will feature exclusive driver-specific video capsules that are updated through the season, as well as season-to-date highlights, interviews, news and all other driver-related video.

News, Analysis and Commentary:

* News and Information: ESPN.com’s award-winning stable of reporters, analysts and commentators is anchored by NASCAR reporters Terry Blount and David Newton, who provide reporting and feature writing throughout the week for the leading sports site online.
* Jayski.com: one of NASCAR’s true insiders, Jayski offers the racing world his unique insights, rumors, ruminations and raceday news updates, integrated with ESPN.com.
* NASCAR Surround: One-stop shopping for highlights, features, observations and stats of all the weekend’s races, running Friday-Monday.
* ESPN Blogs: Blount, Newton and other ESPN reporters and personalities maintain and regularly update blogs with their thoughts, insights, perspectives and more within the ESPN Insider premium content section.
* ESPN Analysts: ESPN.com features regular contributions from ESPN’s NASCAR television team, including Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis.

Fantasy Games:

New this season, ESPN.com offers fantasy players ESPN Fantasy Stock Car Racing – ESPN’s first free league manager style Fantasy Racing game. ESPN Fantasy Stock Car Racing lets players create leagues ranging in size from 2-10 people, with each team having a roster of drivers from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Leagues can feature season-long scoring or weekly head-to-head matchups, and points are awarded in multiple scoring categories to players based on how their selected drivers perform, for example wins, finishing position, laps led and more. League Managers can customize the rules and scoring, and players have multiple driver draft options (including Live Online Draft, Automated Online Draft and Offline Draft, with results uploaded to ESPN.com). Players can also play in prize-eligible leagues for an additional charge.

Additionally, ESPN.com returns with its popular ESPN StockCar Challenge in association with Jayski for the game’s tenth season. Last season, ESPN Stock Car Challenge saw participation growth of more than 25 percent.

Fantasy players will have help throughout the season from ESPN.com’s Christopher Harris –two-time FSWA Racing Writer of the Year – as well as a complete ESPN Fantasy Stock Car Racing draft kit that includes driver and track previews, along with season projections for roughly 60 drivers. Joining Harris is award-winning writer Scott Engel, as well as Garrow, award-winning fantasy sports personality Matthew Berry (aka, The Talented Mr. Roto) and the entire ESPN Fantasy sports editorial team. From Daytona to the final lap of The Chase, ESPN’s Fantasy racing team provides players daily fantasy news, analysis, rankings and advice designed to help players win their leagues.

Nationwide Up to Speed Challenge

ESPN.com will also host the Nationwide Up to Speed Challenge, a season-long contest where fans pick the winning driver in a series of speed categories. The fan with the most points at the end of the season will win a $100,000 grand prize. ESPN will provide players with numerous tools to assist them with their picks, including weekly videos and podcasts on ESPN.com, mobile alerts, and a special tip sheet in ESPN The Magazine’s NASCAR preview issue, which hits stands Feb. 13.

Podcasts

ESPN.com RACEDAY, ESPN’s definitive NASCAR podcast, is originally produced multiple times weekly and covers the latest news and developments. The show features interviews with NASCAR drivers, pit crews, analysts and more and is available via the ESPN PodCenter and Apple's iTunes Store. ESPN produces more than 30 original podcasts that are downloaded more than 7 million times per month.

SportsNation and ESPN Widgets

SportsNation, ESPN.com’s online sports social platform, features regular NASCAR chats throughout the season, polls and surveys, fan-driven power rankings and more. In addition, fans can create their own ESPN Fan Profile, write their own blog, find other passionate racing fans, create groups around their favorite drivers or race teams, send messages and post comments on each other’s profile.

Fans can also drive the dialogue online, through ESPN Conversations – real-time fan commentary available on all ESPN.com NASCAR news and information stories, as well as on Jayski.com for the first time.

Utilizing ESPN.com’s more than 4,800 available content widgets (mini-applications that extend content to third-party sites and publishing platforms), fans can have the NASCAR information they want – from top stories to results to news about a specific driver – delivered automatically to the far reaches of the Web. Widgets are available contextually throughout ESPN.com and Jayski.com’s NASCAR coverage (look for the “add widget” link), as well as through the ESPN.com WidgetCenter at: http://widgetcenter.espn.go.com/widgets/tags/NASCAR

ESPN Mobile Platforms

ESPN’s multiple mobile platforms will give fans on-the-go access to all the racing action, news and developments.

ESPN Mobile TV (available on MediaFLO and MobiTV) will delver live mobile streaming of NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup races throughout the season, as well as news, analysis and feature video programs.

ESPN MVP on Verizon Wireless will feature race highlights from NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races throughout the season, as well as all the latest news and information, ESPN.com columnists, in-progress race leader boards, customizable alerts, and complete control of your Fantasy Stock Car Racing team.

In addition, fans can find ESPN.com coverage of NASCAR on the ESPN WAP site, the leading sports site on the wireless Web (and among the most-trafficked wireless Web sites in the world), with 9 million unique users per month.

About NASCAR on ESPN:

ESPN and ESPN on ABC has comprehensive, multi-platform coverage featuring telecasts of the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, including the 10-race “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup” on ESPN on ABC. Additionally, ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season. All programming is produced totally in High Definition. ESPN’s comprehensive, multimedia NASCAR coverage extends to ESPN.com, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Deportes Radio, SportsCenter, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPNRadio, ESPN360.com and ESPN International, among other ESPN platforms. ESPN aired 262 NASCAR Cup Races over a 20-year period starting in 1981 and returned to NASCAR coverage in 2007. The network's award-winning, live flag-to-flag coverage on ESPN was honored with 17 Sports Emmy Awards, as well as many industry honors. It is widely credited for helping to popularize the sport nationwide. NASCAR races have appeared on ABC for decades, beginning with broadcasts on the award-winning Wide World of Sports program in the 1960s.

Source: ESPN

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