ESPN today announced a partnership with the Clinton Health Matters Initiative, part of The Clinton Foundation, to hold a special town hall summit around youth access to sports and physical activity during the initiative's annual conference next month in La Quinta, Calif. The summit, entitled "Kids & Sports: Who's Got Next?," in part is an outgrowth of a special issue of ESPN The Magazine published last summer devoted to youth access to sports and childhood obesity. Aiding ESPN and the Clinton Health Matters Initiative with the event are the Aspen Institute and Nike. Scheduled participants include former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Lakers G Kobe Bryant and USOC CEO Scott Blackmun, among others.
The summit will be held on Jan. 13 and air in an edited fashion on ESPN2 on Feb. 9 in primetime. "We think this will be an important and engaging conversation," said ESPN Digital & Print Media Senior VP/Content Rob King. "We're thrilled to be able to take our storytelling and journalism to a higher focus with the Clinton Foundation and raise awareness on a very serious issue." The edited telecast of the summit will also be promoted on ABC's scheduled broadcast of Bulls-Lakers earlier on Feb. 9. The Clinton Health Matters Initiative conference itself is held in conjunction with the PGA Tour’s Humana Challenge event.
