ESPN is building upon its “All Access” programming with a Red Sox theme for yesterday and today, showcasing the team’s players, coaches and even front office members across various studio shows and games. Twins-Red Sox yesterday featured in-game interviews with Red Sox manager Alex Cora, President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski and CF Jackie Bradley Jr. Studio programming also will run today today ahead of ESPN's Twins-Red Sox telecast at 1:00pm ET. RF Mookie Betts and 2B Brock Holt will be mic’d up during play, and there also will be more in-game interviews.
DEALMAKERS: The idea for the partnership originated last year during a meeting between Red Sox Chair Tom Werner, President & CEO Sam Kennedy, and ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro. The trio were wondering how both parties could work together from a marketing standpoint, and when the idea for the “All Access” programming came up, everyone was interested. After the initial discussions, ESPN worked with MLB to get the desired Red Sox Spring Training games in place. The Red Sox’ marketing, PR, production and social teams were in constant contact with producers at ESPN to set everything up. The two sides had no problems agreeing to terms, with very few restrictions being put into place. ESPN Senior VP/Production & Remote Events Mark Gross said the net felt like there was “nothing off limits,” while Red Sox Exec VP & CMO Adam Grossman said the team just wanted to make sure it could deliver exactly what ESPN was looking for. The initiative is not a financial deal -- Grossman simply called it a “joint marketing partnership.”
MANAGEMENT STYLE: Cora was a baseball analyst for ESPN as recently as ’16, but his connection to both parties did not play a huge role in the process. However, Grossman did say Cora is always helpful because he “understands the importance of media” and is “willing to experiment.”
INTO THE FUTURE: Do not be surprised if more “All Access” programming pops up on ESPN sometime soon. The net wants to provide fans with different points of access to teams and players. Some Twins players have been fascinated with what their opponents on the Red Sox are up to this week, and Grossman believes it could be a good template moving forward.
