Open history’s vaults: SportsCenter’s redesigned Facebook® Page debuts

Today, ESPN launched a new Facebook® Page for SportsCenter that enables ESPN to better communicate with sports fans interested in connecting with the network’s signature sports news and highlights program.

The show has covered more than 32 years of sports history — and counting — through a lineup of respected anchors, reporters and analysts. Its newly redesigned Facebook Page reflects major milestones in sports since SportsCenter hit the airwaves, presented through a collection of photos, videos and more to fans that “like” SportsCenter. The new page can be found here.

ESPN Front Row spoke to Michael Cupo (director of business development, social media), Michael Shiffman (senior coordinating producer) and Kevin Butler (producer) about today’s launch:

FR: Why was the SportsCenter page chosen as the first from ESPN to be redesigned on Facebook?
MC: SportsCenter has been the centerpiece to sports fans for over 30 years. So the better question would be: How could it not be first? We wanted to leverage Facebook’s new page design and technology to feature great content, and there was no better program for us to highlight historical events than with SportsCenter.

FR: What kind of unique content will fans finds on the new SportsCenter Facebook Page?
KB: SportsCenter on Facebook takes the essence of the content of SportsCenter TV and we — in social media — package the best topics for discussion. We want to be able to provide a place where fans can debate, discuss and share their point of view with other fans. With the new Facebook functionality, we want to highlight the history of sports and the SportsCenter universe — from our This is SportsCenter commercials, to franchise elements such as SportsCenter’s Top 10 and Not Top 10, Fact or Fiction and Take Your Pick segments.

FR: How will social media and the newly redesigned page be integrated into SportsCenter on TV?
MS: Social media has been a regular part of SportsCenter for the past 18 months, and we will continue to incorporate it within our broadcasts. We use platforms like Facebook to measure the pulse of the fan on various topics, and feature some comments on air. Additionally, once a week our Facebook fans determine the topic of top plays in the 6 p.m. ET SportsCenter.

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.