June 28, 2012
ESPN Radio Presents 8th Annual Don’t Give Up ESPYS V Foundation Auction July 1-11
Mike & Mike to Make Co-Hosting Debut with Colin Cowherd to Raise Money, Awareness for Cancer Research
The eighth annual “Don’t Give Up ESPYS V Foundation Auction” will be held Sunday, July 1 to Wednesday, July 11. The 11-day online and on-air public auction will feature hundreds of items and experiences for bid to raise money and awareness for The V Foundation for Cancer Research. Last year’s ESPN Radio “Don’t Give Up ESPYS V Foundation Auction” raised $810,000 in net proceeds for The V Foundation for Cancer Research. The event has raised more than $4.9 million in its seven years.
A majority of the nearly 250 experiences and items in the auction will be available online via www.espnradio.com or www.ebay.com (July 1-11) while a total of 18 fan “experiences” will be auctioned live on air across ESPN Radio’s national shows on Wednesday, July 11, beginning at 6 a.m. ET until 12 a.m. ET. Listeners can call 1-800-4JimmyV or log onto www.jimmyv.org to both donate and bid on items and experiences in the radio-thon, with the highest bidder at 59 minutes past each hour winning the experience. Winning bids will be announced once per hour on ESPN Radio’s respective national platforms. For the first time ever, to help drive additional awareness to the ESPN Radio Auction, ESPN Radio hosts Mike Greenberg, Mike Golic, and Colin Cowherd will team up for two hours of The Herd (11 a.m. ET – 1 p.m. ET) live from the ESPYS in Los Angeles.
The opening bid for every online auction item and experience will begin at a $1.99. Items available online include autographed jerseys, footballs, basketballs, baseballs, hats, shoes, helmets, boxing gloves and photos. Highlights:
An opportunity to kick off the 2012 college football season by attending the Michigan vs. Alabama showdown in the Cowboys Classic with VIP access to watch editions of College Football Live, SportsCenter and College GameDay Built by The Home Depot, and meet personalities such as Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Erin Andrews, Desmond Howard, and David Pollack. Special access ticket packages to top professional and college sporting events including the BCS National Championship Game, 2013 U.S. Open Golf, Monday Night Football, Little League World Series, and more. Trips to ESPN’s headquarters to visit various shows – including Mike & Mike in the Morning, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Baseball Tonight, First Take, NFL Live – or other experiences at ESPN such as golfing with ESPN’s Herm Edwards and being a highlight producer for a day.
The event is one of Team ESPN’s corporate outreach initiatives during ESPYS week. The ESPYS will be televised live on ESPN July 11 at 9 p.m.
About ESPN Audio ESPN Audio is comprised of the country’s largest sports radio network, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPNRadio.com, and ESPN Podcasts. ESPN Radio, which launched January 1, 1992, provides more than 9,000 hours of talk and event content annually, reaching 24 million listeners a week on 700 nationwide stations, more than 300 full-time affiliates, and owned and operated FM stations in New York and Dallas, and AM signals in Chicago and Los Angeles. ESPN Deportes is the only all-sports Spanish radio network, and has 45 affiliates with stations in all ten of the Top 10 Hispanic markets.
ESPNRadio.com is the most listened to live stream of any terrestrial broadcaster in the world - reaching more than 1.7 million unique listeners per month (source: Ando Media). ESPN Podcasts are reaching 358 million downloads through the ESPN PodCenter and iTunes (a year-to-year increase of more than 129 percent), including its most popular podcast The BS Report with Bill Simmons.
About The V Foundation The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN commentator. Since 1993, The Foundation has raised more than $120 million to fund cancer research grants nationwide. It awards 100 percent of all direct cash donations and net proceeds of events directly to cancer research and related programs. Administrative and fundraising expenses are paid by the Foundation's endowment. The Foundation awards grants through a competitive awards process strictly supervised by a Scientific Advisory Board. For more information on The V Foundation or to make a donation, please visit www.jimmyv.org.
About Team ESPN Team ESPN encompasses ESPN's multi-faceted corporate outreach initiatives, including volunteerism, corporate giving and cause marketing, while utilizing its diverse media assets. Through Team ESPN, ESPN employees and fans join together to make a difference in our world and the communities in which we work. www.teamespn.com.
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Media Contact: Carrie Kreiswirth at (860) 766-6042 or carrie.b.kreiswirth@espn.com