After officials confirmed last month that ESPN would be making a stop at this year’s Neshoba County Fair, the sports media company has announced more details on its upcoming trip to Mississippi.
Known as “Mississippi’s Giant Houseparty,” the 136th edition of the Neshoba County Fair will be held in Philadelphia from July 25 to Aug. 1. ESPN will be on site with its flagship “SportsCenter” program on Tuesday, July 29, according to a press release from the company.
The network’s visit to Mississippi comes as it revives a fan-favorite series, “SportsCenter Across America,” that will now be called “SportsCenter: 50 States in 50 Days.” Last airing in 2005, the series travels to every U.S. state and highlights “rivalries and community traditions, while capturing the full spectrum of what it means to be a sports fan in every corner of America.”
ESPN will send anchor Shae Cornette for a one-hour segment that will air at 1 p.m. CT on the same day as her appearance at the fair, which was included in the series two decades ago. She will report live from red-clay horse races and interview fairgoers about what it’s like to follow sports in the Magnolia State.
“[Cornette] is expected to be on horseback to highlight the horse racing aspect of the fair, a tradition more than 100 years old, and how important it is to the fair and county, and she also will visit the fair’s midway to sample the games, rides, and other activities,” the release noted. “In addition, editions of ‘SportsCenter’ all day will recognize top athletes and sports moments in Mississippi history.”
Mississippi will be the 34th stop on the seven-week tour that started June 27 and wraps up Aug. 16. Last month, Cornette was the anchor when “SportsCenter” visited South Dakota for the first-ever BMX Racing at Mount Rushmore.
The revival of “SportsCenter Across America” comes as ESPN works to build anticipation for the launch of an all-encompassing streaming service in September.
