NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson isn’t ruling out a jump into the college football version of the whip-around format — if ESPN ever decides to make it happen. Hanson, who will lead RedZone into its first season on ESPN this fall, said on The Rich Eisen Show that the network’s leadership would only need to call if they were serious about expanding the concept to Saturdays.
“If Bob Iger, Jimmy Pitaro, [or] Burke Magnus want to hit me up… I love college every bit as much as I love pros,” Hanson said.
However, the veteran host noted that producing a college football version of RedZone comes with unique challenges compared to the NFL.
First, ESPN does not own the television rights to every conference, which would make it impossible to feature every major game in one place currently. While the network controls significant inventory, especially in the SEC and ACC, other conferences have exclusive deals elsewhere.
Second, Hanson pointed to the lack of synchronized start times in college football. “You get a good batch kicking off at noon Eastern, but they’re not all synchronized,” he explained. “They come at different times. The games go throughout the day.”
Beyond scheduling and rights issues, Hanson also believes the average sports fan’s familiarity with college football rosters isn’t as comprehensive as it is in the NFL.
“If your favorite team is the New York Giants, fine… you can probably still name the other 31 starting quarterbacks in the NFL,” Hanson said. “If your favorite team is the Alabama Crimson Tide, you probably know [them], but you can’t name me 30 other quarterbacks in college football. You might be able to name the rest of the SEC… but college is not quite as accessible to the frontal lobe of the American sports fan as it is in the NFL.”
The NFL’s version of RedZone has become a Sunday staple for football fans since its launch in 2009, showing every touchdown from every game without commercial breaks. ESPN’s acquisition of NFL RedZone will need regulatory approval but once complete will mark a new chapter for the broadcast and for Hanson, who has hosted the program since its inception.
While a college football RedZone remains a hypothetical, Hanson’s openness to the idea — combined with ESPN’s ongoing interest in unique live programming formats — could keep the concept in play.
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told The Press Box podcast Monday that ESPN is already discussing ideas regarding the RedZone trademark and how to use it for other sports. Potential expansions could include college football, as well as professional leagues like the NBA and NHL, provided those organizations are interested in collaborating.
“I think the RedZone brand is pretty compelling, and there is significant opportunity,” Pitaro said. “We are starting to think about what opportunities there could be. Whether it’s college football…There are other sports that we’ve started to think about other leagues, like the NBA, the NHL, of course, that would have to be done in partnership with those leagues, and they would have to want this.”
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