The Rolling Stones have announced the November release of GRRR!, a greatest hits collection to mark five decades of the Greatest Rock’n’Roll Band In The World. Now, ESPN will commemorate The Rolling Stones’ 50th Anniversary on Monday nights throughout the National Football League season this fall with “Legend to Legend”, a unique collaboration with the Universal Music Group that will combine Monday Night Football highlights with classic tracks from the legendary band featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood.
ESPN is licensing 16 Rolling Stones tracks, spanning the early 1970’s release of Exile on Main St. through the mid 2000’s A Bigger Bang. The songs will be a mix of popular hits and deep cuts, including “It’s Only Rock’n Roll”, “Hot Stuff” and “One Hit (To the Body)”. Four different songs will be selected per month and will be used for four weeks at a time on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown pregame show (6:30 p.m. ET), on bumpers and teases within the Monday Night Football game (8:30 p.m.), and in a post-MNF game highlight segment on SportsCenter, ESPN’s flagship highlights, news and information show.
“Legend to Legend” will debut Monday, Sept. 10 when ESPN kicks off the 43rd season of Monday Night Football with two games at a special time: Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens (7 p.m.) and San Diego Chargers vs. Oakland Raiders (10:15 p.m.). Countdown begins at 5 p.m. The schedule continues throughout ESPN’s 16-week NFL schedule, which concludes on Saturday, Dec. 22.
“Legend to Legend” elements will be identified with a branded logo and high-end animation within Monday Night Countdown and SportsCenter, highlighting “The 50 Years of the Stones” and incorporating the band’s signature tongue logo.
“We’re very proud that the Rolling Stones chose ESPN’s Monday Night Football to play a major role in their 50th Anniversary celebration; sports and music fans alike will enjoy the combination of these two pop culture legends – the most successful prime time sports series in the history of television and the world’s greatest rock and roll band to supply music for our season-long soundtrack,” said Bob Toms, ESPN vice president of production enhancements, who oversees the ESPN Music department.
ESPN’s Monday Night Football
ESPN’s Monday Night Football is the most-watched series in cable television history. In six seasons on ESPN, MNF has registered seven of the top 10 all-time biggest household audiences in cable history. For the 2011 season, ESPN’s MNF delivered 14 of the 20 biggest household audiences (and 13 of the top 20 among viewers) for cable television in 2011, averaging a 9.7 rating (8.4 US rating) and 9,589,000 homes (13,252,000 viewers). MNF is the longest-running sports series in U.S. television history, dating back to its first season on ABC in 1970.
ESPN is available in approximately 100 million homes in the United States, This season, ESPN’s coverage of the NFL – including Monday Night Football – will also be available to more than 73 million homes in 161 countries/territories in Latin America, Brazil, the Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Israel, Europe, Canada, and Australia/New Zealand/Pacific Islands. – Press reference Fran Curtis – Rogers & Cowan
