Words by Jason Corder
ESPN’s College GameDay was in Times Square in New York City on Saturday. Many folks questioned why would the ESPN crew roll into Time Square considering, the closest FBS game to Saturday’s GameDay set is about 200 miles southeast, where Navy’s hosting Cincinnati in Annapolis.
Why Did ESPN’S College GameDay Decided To Come To New York?
ESPN made the choice to come to Time Sqaure mostly because, New York is such huge city, where many graduate and relocate and need a place to watch their favorite college team. For example, The Ainsworth is one of the bars that serves as the Alabama headquarters on Saturdays. Iron Bar hosts Buckeyes fans during Ohio State games. People are passionate about college football here, but that sometimes gets drowned out by the Jets and Giants.
Gameday producer Lee Fitting elaborated on the decision to choose New York City over a traditional college campus.
“New York City is a melting pot of college football fans and the heartbeat of America,” said ESPN vice president of production Lee Fitting. “Thousands of alumni gather in the city each fall Saturday to root on their school and we are bringing College GameDay to New York for them! We want every alumni base and college football fan near and far to join us in Times Square to provide the celebratory, festive atmosphere that is synonymous with the show.”
Lady Liberty Corso Edition
The show’s cheery vibe culminated in Lee Corso dressed in sea green as Lady Liberty, holding a torch as red, white and blue streamers rained down. He declared: “New York City is a great college football town.”
Fans came from miles away to represent their college football teams with some interesting signs. One of my favorite signs was a “Seton Hall > Rutgers football.” Many were skeptic to if this experiment would work and by the looks of atmosphere and how much of the event was successful, I wouldn’t be shocked if the GameDay crew returns to New York. Just don’t expect it to be anytime soon.
