• by Karl Greenberg , April 14, 2010

ESPN's "One Game Changes Everything" platform for promoting its coverage of the FIFA World Cup includes a raft of specials, films on soccer and South Africa, and ads featuring the likes of U2 (featured in a TV spot with lead singer Bono), actor Djimon Hounsou and jazz legend South African Hugh Masekela and his son, an American.

John Skipper, EVP at ESPN, said at a press conference in New York on Wednesday that it is the largest promotional campaign behind a single event ESPN has ever done.

The network, which was broadcast partner for the 2006 World Cup games in Germany, is also supporting with sponsorship of a film, "Two Escobars," an examination of narco terrorism and the influence of drug cartels over the Colombian team. The film, a bipartite examination of the tragic killing of Team Colombia soccer player Andres Escobar outside a bar in Medellin, and that country's homicidal drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar, will be shown next week in the Tribeca Film Festival.

He said the purpose of the efforts is to bring both core soccer fans and big-event sports fans to the network.

Jason Newman, senior director of sports management for ESPN, tells Marketing Daily that the network's media ad time is "not quite" sold out.

The size of ESPN's multifarious effort to promote the games is aimed at delivering for FIFA's corporate partners -- who, as part of their agreement with FIFA, got first right of refusal for ad space in ESPN media properties around the games during a 10-week window, which FIFA extended.

"Our focus going in was to embrace FIFA's partners," he says. The network has exclusive broadcast rights in the United States (except in Spanish, which is Univision's purview) as well as in Brazil and parts of Asia. "Of the 118 million viewers who watched the World Cup in 2006, two-thirds watched on ESPN and [Disney sibling] ABC."

Among FIFA partners who are buying ESPN properties for the games this year and for the games in 2014 are Hyundai, Adidas, Sony, and Anheuser-Busch.

Newman says Hyundai is sponsoring the half-time show, and daily World Cup Live broadcasts; Sony is serving as sponsor of ESPN's HD and 3-D coverage of the games; and A-B sponsors "Man of the Match" for each tournament, per Newman.

AT&T, which is not a FIFA sponsor, is backing ESPN's pre-game broadcasts. Other ESPN partners that are not similarly linked with FIFA itself are Cisco and EA Sports. Those advertising during the games include Heineken, the U.S. Marines and M&M Mars, per the network.