You Ought To Be In Pictures: ESPN Movie Tie-Ins Examined

This summer’s movies include ESPN tie-ins, such as ESPN2 televising the game in “The Longest Yard,” a “SportsCenter” scene in “War of the Worlds” and Lindsay Lohan playing an ESPN production assistant in “Herbie: Fully Loaded,” according to James Hibberd of TV WEEK. The ESPN brand will also appear in “The Fantastic Four,” “Ghost Rider,” “Akeelah & the Bee,” “Dreamer” and the remake of “Bad News Bears.” ESPN “insists the cross-promotions are the natural result of its sports coverage dominance rather than part of a Hollywood branding campaign.” EOE Senior VP Ron Semiao said, “We get approached by studios on an ongoing basis if the movie has a sports theme and it helps the authenticity to have ESPN involved. There’s no monetary exchange; nobody pays anybody.” Some of the films, including “Herbie,” are produced by Disney, which Semiao “admits enjoys preferential treatment.” Semiao: “It’s probably disingenuous to say we don’t give special consideration to Disney” (TV WEEK, 5/16 issue).