Take a Virtual Tour of ESPN's New SportsCenter Studio
By Jason McIntyre
ESPN just released this video of its new, $25 million (ish) SportsCenter studio, which will make its debut at some point in 2014. (Maybe it’ll save SportsCenter! I was in this expansive (and under construction) studio yesterday on a field trip to lovely Bristol, Connecticut. Traffic sucked, and I heard the Cups Song six times in seven hours. Here are five … moments from the day:
* I sparked an interesting debate between Fowler, Herbstreit and Desmond Howard about whether or not college football players should be compensated more than a scholarship. They claim to be covering this topic during the season-opening 4-hour Game Day.
* Spent about 10 minutes doing battle with Keyshawn Johnson over the Ravens and Joe Flacco and offensive skill players. Adam Schefter was in the middle of it. I think Johnson – who talked a lot of shit about Warren Sapp – will make a good podcast guest.
* I asked ESPN President John Skipper what he thought of Fox Sports 1 getting $ 0.23 per subscriber (ESPN gets around $5.50). He took a deep breath and said, “I’m happy for them.”
* Ran into former college classmate and current Sportscenter anchor Lindsay Czarniak in the hall. She gave me one of those ‘you look familiar but I have no clue who you are’ looks, which was crushing. Hell, we sat next to each other in a film class like 14 years ago, how could she forget! Actual words: “So you work for The Big Lead?”
* Rob King, who essentially runs content for ESPN.com, has a list of basically the Top 100 teams that matter to ESPN. And by matter, I mean, the ones fans care about most, as evidenced by clicks, time spent, etc. Man, I’d love for him to reveal that list. If I had to guess, the Miami Heat were No. 1, hence the Heat Index.