ESPN will be celebrating The Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary during this year's season of Monday night football on their pregame show. UMe sent over these details: "Legend to Legend" will be a unique collaboration with the Universal Music Group that will combine Monday Night Football highlights with classic tracks from thelegendary band featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood.
ESPN is licensing 16 Rolling Stones tracks, spanning the early 1970's release of Exile on Main St. through the mid 2000's A Bigger Bang. The songs will be a mix of popular hits and deep cuts, including "It's Only Rock'n Roll", "Hot Stuff" and "One Hit (To the Body)". Four different songs will be selected per month and will be used for four weeks at a time on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown Pregame show (6:30 p.m. ET), on bumpers and teases within the Monday Night Football game (8:30 p.m.), and in a post-MNF game highlight segment onSportsCenter, ESPN's flagship highlights, news and information show.
"Legend to Legend" will debut Monday, Sept. 10 when ESPN kicks off the 43rd season of Monday Night Football with two games at a special time: Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens (7 p.m.) and San Diego Chargers vs. Oakland Raiders (10:15 p.m.). Countdown begins at 5 p.m. The schedule continues throughout ESPN's 16-week NFL schedule, which concludes on Saturday, Dec. 22.
"Legend to Legend" elements will be identified with a branded logo and high-end animation within Monday Night Countdown and SportsCenter, highlighting "The 50 Years of the Stones" and incorporating the band's signature tongue logo.
"We're very proud that the Rolling Stones chose ESPN's Monday Night Football to play a major role in their 50th Anniversary celebration; sports and music fans alike will enjoy the combination of these two pop culture legends – the most successful prime time sports series in the history of television and the world's greatest rock and roll band to supply music for our season-long soundtrack," said Bob Toms, ESPN vice president of production enhancements, who oversees the ESPN Music department.
