ESPN is putting its best foot forward for the inaugural Overtime Nationals High School Football Championship.
The worldwide leader will have college football/WWE play-by-player Joe Tessitore and NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky in the booth for Wednesday’s showcase game between St. Frances of Baltimore and Utah’s Corner Canyon (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
Overtime is collaborating with Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions on the game, which will be played at Under Armour Stadium in Baltimore. The winning team receives $250K for its athletics department.
Overtime CEO Dan Porter previously told SBJ he wanted the broadcast to feel “epic” like a Super Bowl would.
We will see if that happens. But having two household voices on the call, rather than down-roster talent, would seem to be a step toward realizing that goal.
And obviously ESPN, Omaha and Overtime have no control over the most important factor for any sports broadcast — the quality of the game.
This was supposed to a showdown between IMG Academy and St. Frances before IMG declined to participate for myriad reasons. Corner Canyon is a powerhouse with NFL alumni like Jaxson Dart and Zach Wilson, but its national rankings are all over the board while St. Frances (and IMG) are consensus top-5 programs.
We will be watching and have our thoughts in Friday’s send.
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