Jason Kelce is getting ready to interrupt into the ranks of late-night TV hosts with a limited-time early morning present on ESPN.
“The Late Late Present with Jason Kelce” will air 5 consecutive nights in the course of the closing weekend of the NFL soccer season. The collection will air on ESPN each Saturday at 1 a.m. beginning January 4, with a closing broadcast time of 1:30 a.m. 13 NFL seasons later, he will likely be talking out in entrance of a stay crowd on the metropolis’s Union Switch Station. Every present will likely be taped on Friday night, hours earlier than the present airs.
It is unclear whether or not ESPN sees a future for Kelce round Midnight, however the former soccer middle reportedly wished to check out the present when he joined the Disney sports activities large earlier this yr, ostensibly as a “Monday Evening Countdown” An awesome addition,” heading into the “Monday Evening Soccer” preview.
Once they employed him in Could, Disney and ESPN mentioned they “will discover further alternatives.”
Kelce is understood for his prowess on the gridiron, but additionally for his larger-than-life character. He and his brother, Travis, host a well-liked weekly podcast, “New Heights,” and he has made quite a few tv appearances, together with WWE’s WrestleMania.
He would play late-night video games in relative security. ABC, CBS and NBC’s best-known late-night reveals are all now not airing unique programming on Friday nights, with HBO’s “Invoice Maher” Actual Time Present” aired earlier within the night. As for late-night programming for sports activities followers, most are already on ESPN, with Scott Van Pelt starring on a late-night model of “SportsCenter.”
The present could have lots of the trappings that late-night followers have change into accustomed to. Philadelphia band Snacktime will present stay music. Kelce and friends are anticipated to take a look at subsequent weekend’s recreation and will likely be on the lookout for followers on the venue to attend the sport.
The programming ought to a minimum of appeal to youthful viewers to NFL video games. The present will premiere simply hours earlier than the ultimate weekend of the NFL common season, with subsequent hours main into Tremendous Wild Card, Division and Division Championship Weekend, then the Finals earlier than the Professional Bowl and the lead as much as Tremendous Bowl LIX There are nonetheless 9 days left within the competitors.
ESPN will carry the present’s unique broadcast and also will air every episode on ESPN+, ESPN YouTube and the Jason Kelce channel on YouTube produced by ESPN. The replay will likely be proven on ESPN2. NFL Movies will produce the present in affiliation with Kelce’s Wooderboy Productions and Skydance Sports activities.
Regardless that the present is new, it nonetheless pays homage to historical past. The present’s title pays homage to NFL Movies’ first feature-length challenge, “They Name It Professional Soccer,” which was chosen for preservation within the Nationwide Movie Registry in 2012 for instance of how soccer and sports activities could be represented. After creation, it’s broadcast on tv. Time will inform if Kelce’s new program will garner comparable accolades.