The keys to a highly customized Ford F-250 truck with seven TV screens, DirecTV service and built-in bleacher seats will go to one Daniel Williams, a 20-year-old college student and sports fanatic from Bells, Texas.
Williams is the winner of the “King of Fandom” promotion sponsored by ESPN and Verizon Communications. He tallied the most points in the contest by correctly answering trivia questions posed online from Sept. 1 to 19.
He’s expected to officially be crowned at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., on Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern. ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian is scheduled to be on hand to do the honors.
ESPN and Verizon kicked off the contest this month to promote the relaunched ESPN360.com live-sports video site, which is free to subscribers whose providers pay a fee to ESPN. Verizon is one of the Internet service providers that has signed a distribution agreement with the site, which has received limited interest from cable operators to date.
In addition to a one-year lease on the truck, Williams will get $25,000 for “the definitive sports-event road trip,” plus a free year of Verizon broadband Internet service.
The truck includes a satellite-based Internet connection, a Dell laptop computer, red LED underbody lighting, limousine tinting, sports tickers along on the roof, exterior weatherproof speakers, a stainless-steel serving table modeled on ESPN’s SportsCenter desk and a grill-and-refrigerator system.
Williams is currently a full-time student at Grayson County Community College in Denison, Texas, pursuing a degree in education. After college he hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a high-school football coach, according to ESPN. Originally from Monroe, La., and a lifelong Louisiana State University Tigers fan, he plans to debut the King of Fandom truck at the LSU vs. Auburn game on Saturday, Oct. 20.
