NEW YORK Mountain Dew has signed a multiyear deal to be the title sponsor of ESPN’s new live, on-campus college basketball pregame show.
Premiering Jan. 22, College GameDay Fueled by Mountain Dew will originate from the University of Connecticut, which faces the U. of Pittsburgh. The show will be modeled after Bristol, Conn.-based ESPN’s college football pregame show.
This Saturday’s GameDay is the first of eight consecutive prime-time shows. Previously, pregame shows for ESPN’s college basketball telecasts originated from its studio. But Ed Erhardt, president of ESPN/ABC sports customer sales and marketing, said, “Colleges vie to have us come to their campus to do our football show, and our goal is to create that same excitement for basketball.”
In addition to the name sponsorship, Mountain Dew will be mentioned in all on-air promos during the week and will also “fuel” ESPN’s morning show Cold Pizza, which will air live on campus Friday before the Saturday game. Mountain Dew also will become the title sponsor of ESPN’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship GameDay shows in March.
Mountain Dew Backs ESPN's 'GameDay'
