Despite the recent cutbacks from ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports is upping its investment in fantasy football with some an extended programming in 2017.
“The Fantasy Show,” hosted by Matthew Berry, will air online and TV Monday through Friday.
Variety broke the story earlier in the week when it reported that the show will launch Aug. 1 initially on the ESPN App and WatchESPN digital video platforms, leading up to a reprise of the 28-hour “ESPN Fantasy Football Marathon” Aug. 14-15 across multiple programs on ESPN networks.
Following the marathon programming block, “The Fantasy Show” will make its TV premiere on ESPN2 and will run through the rest of the NFL’s 2017-18 season.
“For so long, fantasy sports has been a great digital property for us,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN’s exec VP of production. “For the first time, we’re taking a franchise and really, truly making it integrated across platforms, clearly with the focus on the marathon.”
“The reason fantasy football is so popular is very simple: It’s insanely fun,” Berry told Variety. “Of course, probably the most fun part of fantasy is winning, so we’ll focus on that – trying to be informative, entertaining and not completely embarrassing.”
*Image from Twitter
