ESPN Original Entertainment (EOE) revealed a new slate of programming debuting in April with something for ballers in paint, basket and base.
EOE will present two-part series Free Agent, which will give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at baseball’s free-agency period through the perspective of notorious sports agent Scott Boras. Agent will get inside Boras’ research and negotiations preparation. It runs on ESPN2 April 13 at 11:30 p.m. and April 20 at 10 p.m.
Good-old-fashioned tug-of-war returns in Battle of the Gridiron Stars, featuring 18 of football’s biggest stars, such as Peyton and Eli Manning and Hines Ward, competing in obstacle courses, canoe races and homerun-derby contests in an AFC versus NFC format for "best league in the NFL." Mike Tirico and Kirk Herbstreit host, with Samantha Ryan and Stacey Dales-Shuman reporting. The show begins on ESPN Tuesday, April 11, at 9 p.m.
National Professional Paintball League’s (NPPL) U.S. Paintball Championships, with eight professional teams of seven players, try to “capture the flag” and claim a $50,000 prize, beginning on ESPN2 April 10 at 10 p.m. Eight one-hour shows will play. For more info on the sport, visit www.nppl.tv.
For the late-night crowd, urban-lifestyle favorites return to ESPN2 April 4, including It’s the Shoes, about celebrity and athlete sneaker collections. Shoes is hosted by sneaker savant and New York-area DJ Bobbito Garcia at 1 a.m. ET. Sports talk radio-themed 2 Live Stews, with brothers Ryan and Doug Stewart (currently on hiatus from their Atlanta-based SportsRap radio show) returns at 1:30 a.m. City Slam returns April 11 at 1 a.m. Host Dee Brown shows basketball’s “streetballers” competing for slam-dunk supremacy. The Chicago-based finale will run July 12-Aug. 9.
ESPN’s original programming arm, ESPN Original Entertainment, launched in 2001 and spans ESPN's sports-themed original movies, scripted and unscripted dramatic series, daily talk and debate series, documentaries, game shows, televised events, and daily lifestyle and entertainment-themed series.
