How ESPN Scored U2 for Cup Promos
U2 will be on stage with The Walt Disney Co. networks' coverage of the world's biggest sporting event. The Irish rockers are lending songs and band members are supplying voiceovers to five promo ads touting ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC's coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The quartet also will appear on shoulder programming for the month-long soccer tournament, which kicks off in Germany on June 9.
Tim Scanlan, senior coordinating producer for ESPN's World Cup coverage, said it started when he envisioned U2 song "City of Blinding Lights" as the background for a tournament wrap-up piece.
"The song was written for New York, but I could see Berlin," Scanlan told The Wire, referring to the site of the July 9 final. Contact was made with the group and ideas sprang for the event's promotional campaign executed by Weiden & Kennedy around the theme "One Game Changes Everything" and ancillary programming.
"They're the biggest band in the world and this is the biggest sporting event," Scanlan explained after a press conference last Thursday in Manhattan discussing Disney's World Cup broadcast plans. "They like how it fits with their image. They love the World Cup."
U2's "Beautiful Day," it should be noted, became the theme song for NBC's coverage of the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney.
High-definition footage of U2 concerts from New York, North Carolina, Chicago and Milan will be dropped into the studio show World Cup Live , which will air daily during the tournament.
Bono and company will advise on songs used to complement action during the tournament.
