ESPN has been celebrating the strangest offerings in sports every year on August 8 for each of the last seven years. Usually, the company transforms either ESPN 2 or ESPNU into ESPN8: The Ocho for the celebration. For its eighth year, the Ocho is getting innovative in the digital space.
ESPN 8: The Ocho is being presented as part of Fortnite. The game’s social platform, Party Royale, gets rid of the weapons and battles in favor of hang outs and entertainment. ESPN 8: The Ocho will be streamed inside of Party Royale beginning at 9 am on Saturday, August 8.
Party Royale has been used by a number of innovative entertainment brands to stage concerts and launch movie trailers. The Fortnite offshoot can be accessed via Xbox One, PS4, iOS, and Android.
Those without a Fortnite account will still have access to Ocho programming. Select events will be available on demand through the ESPN app.
The concept of an ESPN channel dedicated to absurd and strange competitions first debuted as part of the Vince Vaughn/Ben Stiller movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story in 2004. ESPN didn’t embrace the concept for its own airwaves until 2012.
