ESPN will launch its '99-2000 NHL on-air image
campaign, titled "This is the Game," during Sunday's Bucs-
Lions NFL broadcast. The promos feature voice-overs by
actress Susan Sarandon and star NHLers Sergei Fedorov, Chris
Chelios, Jaromir Jagr, Eric Lindros and Keith Jones. In
addition to the image campaign, tune-in spots featuring game
footage will promote individual NHL game broadcasts. ESPN's
NHL promo spots will air on all four ESPN nets -- ESPN,
ESPN2, ESPNews and ESPN Classic -- as well as on ABC, ESPN
Radio, ESPN.com and in in-arena promos (ESPN). USA TODAY's
Kevin Allen reports that the ads were written by Wieden &
Kennedy's Jon Goldberg, who is an "avid Islanders fan." In
the campaign, ESPN is "taking a more serious tone with spots
designed to introduce fans to the subtleties of the games."
One spot features Sarandon "suggesting that players pay
special attention to the unwritten rules, 'because if you
break one of them, it isn't the referee that hands out the
punishment.'" ESPN VP/Marketing Tom Clendenin, on why they
utilized Sarandon: "She's cool. She's got great pipes, and
she's a hockey fan" (USA TODAY, 10/29).
