ESPN 3D‘s live broadcast of the State Farm Home Run Derby at 5 p.m. Monday, July 12, will be the first to be produced by ESPN specifically for the network.
The production will be separate from what most people see on ESPN, from camera angles to announcers — host Dan Shulman and analysts Aaron Boone and Nomar Garciaparra.
The 25 FIFA World Cup matches that concluded Sunday on ESPN 3D were produced by FIFA. Several other 3D sports programs have been produced by ESPN, such as The Masters in April, a Harlem Globetrotters game in February, and the USC vs. Ohio State college football game last year in 2009, but all of those were prior to the launch last month of ESPN’s own 3D network, ESPN 3D, which is already available nationwide to about 45 million households through DirecTV, Comcast and AT&T.
Sony was named the first official sponsor of the network in January 2010 and the company is expected to feature 3D commercials during the Home Run Derby along with a couple other 3D advertisers.
— By Scott Hettrick