ESPN is starting a network that will provide up-close access to their sports properties thru its social media. The new network of content creation will be called ESPN Creator Network.
The network will feature up-and-coming content creators and is set to launch in October and will continue for about four months. ESPN will select ten creators to lead the new initiative and be led by talent/social strategist Omar Raja.
“What we’re continuing to see from our sports community on social channels increasingly is this gravitation toward first-person, authentic content creation,” said ESPN’s VP of Social Media Kaitee Daley told Front Office Sports. “ESPN has always been fan-centric and Creator Network is our new-age way of expressing that.”
ESPN will focus mainly on TikTok. Daley says that the initial programming options for the creators will be up to the creators themselves.
“It’s going to be the creators’ discretion how they choose to program their channels, and then it’ll be our discretion how we choose to elevate.” says Daley. “We don’t want to force it because we don’t want the creators to feel like this is a one-way street.”
