Emmy-Award winning ESPN College GameDay is kicking off the upcoming college football season in Cowtown.
“We can’t think of a better place to kick off the College GameDay season than the location that will host the first College Football National Championship in January,” said Lee Fitting, ESPN senior coordinating producer, in a press release.
Hosted by Chris Fowler, the popular college football preview show is scheduled to open the season with live broadcasts from Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth.
“We’re thrilled to have ESPN back in Sundance Square,” said Tracy Gilmour, director of marketing for Sundance Square, in the release.
Along with Fowler, the College GameDay team includes analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack.
“ESPN’s College GameDay along with cheering fans always makes for a fun and energetic atmosphere; and Fort Worth is the perfect backdrop. We look forward to hosting ESPN next month and in January.”
College GameDay selects a marque college football matchup each week and travels to its location for a live broadcast. The show visited TCU in November 2009 for the Frogs’ 55-28 win over Utah.
The main show on Aug. 30 will be centered on the annual Cowboy Classic, which features the Big 12’s Oklahoma State and reigning national champion Florida State in AT&T Stadium.
“We’ve had great luck in Fort Worth with ESPN’s Super Bowl and Final Four coverage, and now we have a match-up that includes the defending national champions, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and a perennial top-25 team,” Fitting said in the release.
“These two teams are known for their passionate fan bases, so we challenge them to come out in full force on the opening Saturday.”
Coincidently, TCU will open its season against Samford the same day. Fitting told the Fort Worth-Star Telegram in an interview he hopes college football fans will come out in force for the broadcast.
“We decided why not go to the people,” Fitting said. “That’s when we have our success. We want to set a GameDay attendance record here. We want fans to come out and make signs. We want to be blown away.”
The broadcast is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 29, and pick up again at 8 a.m. Saturday.
TCU’s kickoff against the Bulldogs is scheduled for 6 p.m., while Oklahoma State-Florida State begins at 7 p.m.
