ESPN to Team with History on New SPORTSCENTER Promos

ESPN® and HISTORY® are collaborating on co-branded spots featuring SportsCenter talent Scott Van Pelt and Kenny Mayne along with Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz from HISTORY's hit series, American Pickers®. The spots will begin airing on both networks, Monday, July 14, to highlight the new, recently launched SportsCenter set and the new season of American Pickers which premieres Wednesday, July 30, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

In the humorous spots, Mike and Frank find the pick of a lifetime, the SportsCenter news desk where the icons of ESPN hosted more than 32,000 shows. Once the pickers get the set from Van Pelt and load it into their van, they drive off only to find quite a surprise hidden inside the desk.

This is the second time ESPN and HISTORY have collaborated on customized spots. The first featured the hit scripted drama Vikings in February and involved Mayne and the Vikings character "The Seer" in three different promos that touted the series.

"ESPN has been a wonderful collaborator and this is an organic next step in our continued partnership," said Samantha Maltin, Senior Vice President of Marketing for HISTORY & H2, "By combining forces with ESPN Sportcenter we can expand our fan base and raise the cultural currency of our core franchises."

Added Sean Hanrahan, Senior Vice President of Marketing Solutions at ESPN, "Following the success of the Vikings spots, we were looking for ways to work together again. Combining American Pickers with the debut of the new SportsCenter set, made perfect sense. It's a great way to blend the two brands and reach a crossover audience."

As ESPN's flagship show is evolving to their new sets in Bristol, CT, the old Sportscenter "American-Pickers-picked" set will be auctioned during the ESPYS with all proceeds benefitting the Jimmy V Foundation. From this desk, ESPN brought fans the biggest highlights and covered the most historic moments. This is a once in a lifetime chance for the ultimate sports fan to own a piece of history and to help a very worthy cause.

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