ESPN College GameDay to Originate from Florida’s Spring College Football Game for First Time Ever April 12

Show will Originate from Florida’s Spring Football Game; ESPN to Televise the Game

March 24, 2008 -- For the first time, College GameDay Built by The Home Depot will originate from the site of a college football spring game. The popular Saturday morning pre-game show will originate from Gainesville, Fla., for the University of Florida’s spring game Saturday, April 12. Florida is led by 2007 Heisman Trophy quarterback Tim Tebow.

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The two-hour College GameDay will be aired from 11 a.m. ET to noon on ESPN2 and noon to 1 p.m. on ESPN. ESPN will televise the spring game following the show at 1 p.m. The show and game coverage will be hosted by Chris Fowler with analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard. Erin Andrews will join them to report from the sidelines during the game. The two-hour game telecast will showcase the school’s final spring football intra-squad scrimmage, and will include interviews with coaches and players.

In addition, ESPNU will televise Missouri’s spring football game Saturday, April 19, at 2 p.m. and ESPN2 will televise two editions of College Football Final – ESPN’s weekly Saturday night studio show wrapping up the day’s action -- Saturday, April 12, at 10 p.m. and Saturday, April 19, at 7 p.m.

College GameDay and College Football Final will also provide in-depth analysis and news of Division I football teams as they prepare for the upcoming season.

College GameDay -- consistently originating from the site of one of the day’s best games or with a compelling storyline – will begin its 22nd season Saturday, Aug. 30 at 10 a.m. The site is to be determined.

The 2007 season was the most-viewed ever for College GameDay, averaging 1,662,000 households (based on a 1.7 rating) for a 6% increase (vs. 1,565,000 households) over 2006, the previous most-viewed season. In addition, last season’s telecast from Kansas City, Mo., (for #4 Missouri vs. #2 Kansas) November 24 averaged 2,034,000 households (based on a 2.1 rating), making it the most-viewed Saturday morning edition of the program. It surpassed the previous high of 1,913,000 households and a 2.1 rating, set November 18, 2006, for a show from Columbus, Ohio (for #2 Michigan at #1 Ohio State).

Source: ESPN