SportsCenter Commercials

Over the years, one of my favorite parts of watching ESPN has been seeing a new commercial for SportsCenter. These commercials usually feature famous athletes and always are hilarious. It recently occurred to me that the commercials do more than just promote a TV show; they also allow ESPN to build relationships with the athletes that it covers. These relationships are important to the network, because it needs athletes to participate in interviews and other segments. By having athletes work with broadcasters during the production of the commercials, the network establishes working relationships and ensures that the athletes will be willing to work with the network in the future. Without the commercials, the broadcasters only would work with the athletes during interviews, which probably would not breed the camaraderie that the commercials produce. This friendly atmosphere is what really makes the commercials a good PR move.