On Oct. 14 -- as the Pan American Games began in
Guadalajara, Mexico -- a young man dressed and face-painted in blue walked into
a Manhattan bar, holding a cardboard sign urging others to follow him.
He was "El Tuitero" (The Twitterer), a character created by
ESPN Deportes as the network's dedicated "Twitter ambassador" for the
XVI Pan American Games.
El Tuitero was unveiled during a party hosted by ESPN
Deportes for the start of the games. Posing with top ESPN Deportes talent and a
live mariachi band, el Tuitero asked attendees to tweet and retweet messages about
the games using the hashtags #tuitero, #YoSoyPanamericano, #Panamericanos and
#Guadalajara2011.
ESPN Deportes has more than a half-million followers on
Twitter.
In the Pan American Games, 5,900 athletes from 42 countries
compete in 46 sports. Venues are in the state of Jalisco, in such cities as
Lagos de Moreno, Tlaquepaque, Ciudad Guzmán, Zapopan, Ajijic
and Puerto Vallarta.
"The Pan American
Games are sort of the ‘Olympics of the Americas,' " Lino Garcia, general
manager of ESPN Deportes, said. "We are very excited to bring back the Pan
American Games to our viewers this year."
ESPN will provide 90-120 hours of exclusive, live Pan Am
Games coverage on ESPN Deportes and ESPN3. More than 90 ESPN staffers will be
on-site.
ESPN2 will provide English-language coverage of the event,
and some ESPN Deportes coverage will appear on broadband site ESPN3 for the
first time.
