ESPN and Special Olympics have extended and expanded their game-changing relationship, with an eight-year extension of global programming and ESPN’s Global Presenting Sponsorship of Special Olympics Unified Sports®.
ESPN’s support of Special Olympics began more than 30 years ago, and groundbreaking multimedia coverage of Special Olympics events began in 2015. Since then, ESPN has added year-round news and feature coverage of Special Olympics, its athletes, community, and culture.
Through this agreement, ESPN will be the Global Broadcast Partner for all Special Olympics World Games and USA Games through 2027. Additionally, ESPN will continue to be the Global Presenting Sponsor of Special Olympics Unified Sports. Dedicated to promoting social inclusion through shared sports training and competition, Special Olympics Unified Sports brings people with and without intellectual disabilities together to play, train and compete. Since this collaboration began in 2013, participation is up 172% and certification of coaches is up by 464%.
In the video above, ESPN employees explain how participating in Special Olympics productions have affected them.
Shelby L. Lacy and Olivia Wilson produced the video.
