Did you expect Fox Sports to quietly enter the room with its first full-blown season of college football? Hardly.
The network has two highly creative ads touting the “Gus Effect” of watching the high-voltage Gus Johnson call its games.
And here’s a second promo featuring Erin Andrews.
Fox Sports knows how to get everyone’s attention. But maintaining it at this crowded college football party is another story.
Fox will have a full season of Saturday night games, debuting tomorrow night with USC-Hawaii. The schedule includes the Pac 12 and Big Ten title games.
Fox hopes Johnson, who will be paired with Charles Davis, becomes the life of the party. Working on the big stage, I would expect Johnson’s over-the-top calls could elevate him to cult status on campuses throughout the country.
The telecasts will be preceded by Fox College Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. Fox’s new studio show will be hosted by Andrews with Eddie George and Joey Harrington working as analysts.
Andrews already has a big following, which is why Fox paid big money to bring her over from ESPN. She gives the new show a presence it needed.
Here’s Andrews from a teleconference this week:
Andrews on her transition from sidelines to studio: “I’ll miss being on campus. I did it for 10 years. I’m a sports fan and who doesn’t love having the best seats in the house right down there on the sidelines? This is another way to become more versatile and I’ll have my opportunities to get out on the field for NFL.”
Andrews on working with Eddie George and Joey Harrington: “The No.1 thing that sold me on this college football show was Eddie and Joey. The second I sat down with those two and started talking college football I was so excited. They live and breathe it. They don’t agree on a lot of things and that will separate our show from a lot of other shows. You don’t want guys that think the same way about teams, players and coaching styles.”
The focus, though, will be on Andrews to see if she is worthy of being in primetime. It’s a big jump from hosting the early GameDay show on ESPNU.
Fox College Saturday also won’t be your typical Saturday morning pregame fest. It will be airing at a time when there are more live games going on than you can count. Fox will have to make its program compelling enough to make viewers switch to a studio show.
One thing is for sure: You know Fox will try to make it interesting. Let the party begin.