ESPN Secures Several Sponsors For First-Ever U.S. Open Coverage

ESPN Has Signed IBM, MGD 64, DirecTV, Lexus, BMW, Others For U.S. Open Coverage

ESPN is televising the U.S. Open for the first time this year, and the net has signed several sponsors for its coverage, including BMW, DirecTV, IBM, JPMorgan Chase, Lexus and MGD 64. American Airlines and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will sponsor ESPN.com’s comprehensive digital coverage of the event. Sponsored elements will include "Primetime at the U.S. Open presented by IBM," which will include stats and scoring features during all live match hours, and "SportsCenter Presented by BMW at the U.S. Open." JPMorgan Chase is sponsoring the "Chase Review," the electronic review of close line calls; Lexus is sponsoring "Match Summary;" MGD 64 is supporting "Light on their Feet," a feature highlighting a player who displays great speed and quickness; and DirecTV is sponsoring ESPN2's aerial coverage of the event. ESPN2 will present almost 100 hours of its tournament coverage in HD beginning today, while ESPN360 will present more than 300 hours of coverage (ESPN).

IN WITH THE NEW: In California, Jim Carlisle noted ESPN2 has "put together a fairly impressive stable of commentators, ranging from John McEnroe and Mary Carillo to Bud Collins and Pam Shriver." Other members of ESPN2's broadcast team include Cliff Drysdale, Rick Reilly, Tom Rinaldi, and analysts Patrick McEnroe, Mary Joe Fernandez, Darren Cahill, Brad Gilbert and Luke Jensen (VENTURA COUNTY STAR, 8/28). In N.Y., Lynn Zinser noted the "first indication of a new television era" at the U.S. Open came Thursday, when the tournament's draw "came as a packaged-for-TV event for the first time." The draw "was held in the Times Center, the same setting as last year, but the similarities ended there." Zinser noted Fernandez and Patrick McEnroe during the draw "did not have to do any on-the-spot analysis because everything was known ahead of time," and coverage of the draw included "some video clips, a bull rush through the two fields by McEnroe and Fernandez, and it was all over." Zinser: "If you were looking for depth, it was hard to find. If you were looking for ESPN's thumbprint, it was everywhere" (NYTIMES.com, 8/27).

CENTER COURT: In London, Neil Harman noted for the next two weeks, John McEnroe's "powers of equanimity will be tested because he will get little sleep from delivering wall-to-wall commentary on the US Open." That McEnroe has "become the pre-eminent touchstone for his sport, a maharishi spilling pearls of wisdom, stuns him as much as it has his audiences." McEnroe: "People realise I'm somewhat well spoken with a keen sense of humour, and it's not as if there aren't others out there who could have done it. I didn't expect it to turn out the way it has" (LONDON TIMES, 8/29).