It is safe to say that the sports media industry has changed drastically over the last 40 years: the internet marked a shift from print to digital media; social media has changed how fans consume and engage with sports content; and, recently, the rise of athlete-driven media now allows athletes to control their own narratives and even bypass traditional media outlets altogether.
And yet, even with all the changes in the industry, one thing has not changed: ESPN is still “The Worldwide Leader in Sports”—even if the network has tried to distance themselves from that moniker.
And with the network’s latest initiative, it is obvious why they have remained as such.
Last month, ESPN announced its “SportsCenter: 50 States in 50 Days” Tour. While its name suggests a cross-country journey, the tour is more like a nationwide, coast-to-coast storytelling initiative spanning 50 consecutive days. It will feature a mix of live on-site shows and storytelling segments, with each day highlighting a different state and hosted by different ESPN personalities.
“From high-profile athletic venues and events to unique hometown locales, the initiative will spotlight rivalries and community traditions, while capturing the full spectrum of what it means to be a sports fan in every corner of America,” the network wrote in its press release for the tour.
Some highlights on the tour include the MLB Home Run Derby in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 14; the ESPYS in Los Angeles, California, on July 16; and the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, concluding the tour on August 16.
And yet, this isn’t the first time ESPN has embarked on a tour of this scale: the last time was 20 years ago with “SportsCenter Across America,” another 50-states-in-50-days tour during the summer of 2005, which served as inspiration for this current version.
“The original 2005 ‘SportsCenter Across America’ effort inspired this modern revival—now reimagined for a digital-first audience, and reflecting ESPN’s commitment to both physical and digital fan engagement,” the network said.
This is a fitting update to the tour given the upcoming launch of the network’s direct-to-consumer streaming service later this year. Set to launch in early fall, the service will provide users with access to all of ESPN’s linear networks, over 47,000 live events a year, original programming, and more. The network hopes that the tour and its coverage of various sporting events will help build anticipation for the streaming service, which will offer users a similar variety of content.
Live From Bridgewater, New Jersey
The tour kicked off on June 27, with a special edition of SportsCenter hosted by Scott Van Pelt in Washington, D.C. On July 12, as the 16th stop of the tour, the network came to TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, New Jersey, for Minor League Baseball (MiLB) action between the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and the Somerset Patriots.
In addition to participating in the team’s pregame batting practice, throwing the first pitch, and competing in the “dizzy bat race,” ESPN’s Ryan Smith hosted the midnight edition of SportsCenter from the ballpark after the game.
Thanks to ESPN’s partnership with Seton Hall’s Center for Sports Media, The Setonian was able to attend the game and speak to Smith about the initiative before the show. He provided more insight into how the network hopes to connect more with fans through the tour, and how much he enjoys being a part of it.
“For me, it represents a way for ESPN to connect with the people that watch us,” Smith said. “We never want to be an ‘ivory tower’—We want to get out of the studio, and actually be among the people who are watching us.”
By spending time with fans of the network, Smith believes he and his ESPN colleagues can gain a better understanding of the people they’re serving.
“In the studio, we might say, ‘Hey, we’re talking about the Somerset Patriots today’—but how much do we really know about their fans?” he said. “Do we know what their fans like? Do we even know what it's like to be at a game?”
“And by being here in Bridgewater, I now have that perspective,” he added. “So I love ‘50 in 50’ because we’re going everywhere, and just connecting with people, and getting a better understanding of our audience because of it.”
ESPN's Ryan Smith with The Setonian's Sports Editor | Photo via Zach Mawby
The Patriots’ Tribute to “The Diner Capital of the World”
In the last decade, MiLB teams have adopted alternate team names and identities to honor local communities and connect with fans in fun and creative ways. These “alter-egos” typically range from irreverent food-related puns, like the “Hartford Bouncing Pickles,” to tributes to regional culture.
For the latter, look no further than the Somerset Patriots: The New York Yankees Double-A affiliate will rebrand to the “Jersey Diners” for several games this season, including the game with Smith and ESPN in attendance. With over 500 across the state, the rebrand was designed to recognize the historic and cultural significance of the diner to New Jersey, “The Diner Capital of the World.”
And yet, the rebrand is more than just a new name and look for the team: the organization wrote in their press release ahead of Saturday that, “during Jersey Diners games, fans enjoy classic rock music from the 50’s and 60’s, blue plate specials at the concession stands, diner-themed promotions, and more.” The organization’s commitment to the rebrand earned them MiLB’s Best Alternate Identity Award and Golden Bobblehead for Best New Merchandise Promotion or Retail Sales Strategy last year.
“The rebrand is actually one of the reasons why we’re here today,” Smith said. “This team is just so smart for finding a way to recognize what’s just so incredibly ‘lowkey’ awesome about Jersey, which is its diner culture—and rebranding the entire team around it is genius.”
In their effort to connect with fans across the country, ESPN’s initiative is centered around telling the unique “story” of each state they visit. When planning the tour, the network sought to choose an event that best represented the state in which they take place. With this in mind, Smith explained why this game best captured the spirit of the Garden State.
“This team has found a way to help us tell the story of New Jersey all in one night: diners, baseball, community, summer, fireworks,” he added. “This is like everything ‘Jersey’ rolled into one.”
Praise for the Patriots, New Jersey, and “America’s Favorite Pastime”
In addition to the rebrand, Smith also praised the organization itself, particularly their ability to foster an exciting fan environment. He said the energy in the ballpark was “off the charts,” and pointed out that before the game, there were “more than 100 people on the field,” including the 12 people selected to throw out the first pitch, himself among them.
“You walk into the ballpark and you feel like you could end up on the field and not get arrested for it,” Smith said. “That’s a great feeling—and it’s part of the story we’re trying to tell today.”
Whereas there is often a disconnect between fans and professional athletes, MiLB players are far more accessible and relatable. This makes for an intimate fan experience, which helps fans become even more connected to the sport and its players as a result.
“There is just such a sense of community through minor league baseball—and I love pro baseball, but it doesn’t have anything like that at all,” he added. “A young fan can come to this game and actually feel like they can be one of those guys on the field someday.”
Although this was his first Somerset Patriots game, this wasn’t Smith’s first time in New Jersey. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Smith mentioned that he and his peers growing up always would act like they had “a war with Jersey.”
“It was kind of like, people would diss Philly and Pennsylvania, so we would try to diss Jersey,” he said.
But his perspective changed earlier in his career when he moved to Montclair, which showed him “a whole different side of the state.” One of the things he said he loves most about New Jersey is its diversity.
“Jersey has so many diverse communities all over the state—it is one of the most diverse states you can find,” he said. “There are so many different pockets of people that I think just makes for a wealth of experience.”
Growing up in Philadelphia, Smith also developed a deep love for baseball. As a kid, he rooted for the Phillies and admired the team’s play-by-play broadcaster at the time, Harry Kalas. Since joining ESPN and becoming a SportsCenter anchor, Smith has covered many different sports—and yet, nothing quite compares to covering baseball for him.
“I’ll put it like this: I’ve been on a football field catching passes, I’ve been on pro basketball courts taking jump shots—but being in batting practice earlier today was like living out a dream,” Smith said.
From the Courtroom to Covering Sports
Batting practice and Smith’s role at ESPN have a lot in common. As a kid, he always dreamed of being a sports broadcaster, and now he’s living out that dream.
But things weren’t always clear from the start for Smith.
After graduating from Syracuse University and Columbia Law School, Smith started his career practicing sports and entertainment law, eventually working as a lawyer for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Although he enjoyed being a lawyer, Smith always felt like there was “something more” out there for him.
“When I got maybe ten or so years in law, I thought, ‘Maybe there’s something more for me,’” he recalled. “And then a friend of mine suggested that I work in TV, so I started doing guest spots and then I ended up working at CNN—but there was still always something nagging me about doing ‘something more.’”
After a few years with CNN, Smith got a call from ABC News—a sister company to ESPN— asking him to join the network as a legal correspondent.
“They offered me working with ESPN as part of the job, and that’s when it all clicked—the thing that was nagging me was that dream that I had as a kid,” he said. “So I worked at ABC for a while, but always wanted to work for ESPN, and then there was finally an opening for me to come over—and the rest is history.”
“When you have those dreams, and you feel like something’s nagging at you, it’s all about listening to that inner voice,” he added. “And that inner voice was always telling me that there was something in sports for me, and eventually it worked out.”
Bob Ley: The Ultimate Mentor
From there, Smith started off hosting “Outside the Lines” with Bob Ley, an Emmy Award-winning ESPN host and Seton Hall alum, who Smith said “changed his life.”
“I’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of people help me get to this place in sports,” Smith said. “And Ley is easily one of the top three people who helped me get here.”
In addition to Smith, Ley has helped countless others in the sports media industry, including his alma mater. When he retired in 2021, Ley founded Seton Hall’s Center for Sports Media in the fall of the same year to support the next generation of sports media personnel.
While working with him, Smith mentioned that Ley not only taught him how to hold himself and those around him to a high standard, but also helped him recognize the significance of his role as a "steward of sports."
“Ley sets a standard and a tone in everything he does,” Smith said. “He always had this thing of ‘channeling the audience’—to him, we’re stewards of sports, and our job is to figure out how to use ourselves to best inform our viewers.”
In holding others to a high standard, Smith also noted how Ley would not hesitate to call others out on their mistakes, not out of spite or pride, but because he genuinely wanted everyone to be the best they could be in their respective roles, Smith included.
“We worked side by side for years, and he was always encouraging, but if I made a mistake, he would let me know,” Smith said. “But that’s how you learn: you don’t learn with everybody always telling you that you’re great—because in our industry, there are a lot of people who will constantly tell you, ‘You’re great,’ and then the next day, they’ll tell you, ‘You’re fired.’”
“So I think it was the best thing for me to start off with someone like Ley, who could teach me how to actually be great rather than constantly tell me that I am,” he added. “He is one of those people that, without him, I would never be where I am today.”
SportsCenter, ESPN, and Maintaining a Standard of “Excellence”
Eventually, Smith made his way to SportsCenter, and since 2019, he has hosted the morning weekday edition of the show. In 2022, he was promoted from fill-in status to a permanent co-anchor of the show—a role held by some of the most iconic figures in the network’s history, and one that Smith never imagined he would occupy.
“I grew up watching SportsCenter every single day, watching people like Dan Patrick, Pete Olderman, Bob Ley, Stuart Scott,” he recalled. “And sometimes, when I work with someone like Hannah Storm, for example, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I used to watch you, and now we’re sitting next to each other. Should I even be here?’”
Reminding himself that what he does is a “dream job” for many—even himself at one point— helps Smith hold himself and others to that high standard that Ley instilled in him.
“For myself and the people I work with, we hold ourselves to a high standard because we know how special the job is,” he said. “There’s an excellence in it that people expect because of those who came before us, and because being a part of that means you’re a part of excellence.”
Smith mentioned that maintaining this standard of “excellence” is how ESPN is trying to further the brand in an ever-changing sports media industry.
“Excellence is not something you ride on—it’s something you have to work at every single day,” he said. “And that’s what we’ve been trying to do as a network.”
Smith said one way he gauges the company’s “excellence” is how often he instinctively turns to ESPN when major sports news breaks—something he has in common with many, if not most, sports fans.
“When I’m not working, and something happens, the first thing I do is turn to ESPN—I did that 20 years ago when I wasn’t at ESPN, and I do it to this day,” he said. “And I’m not even saying that because I’m a part of the company—it’s because I trust it.”
“There’s a lot of sports content out there right now, but I believe that a fan who really wants to know the depth and truth of a particular topic can always turn to ESPN—that has not changed,” he added. “And as long as that doesn’t change, there will always be a place for it, and people will still see ESPN and SportsCenter as a brand and show they can trust.”
Smith’s Advice: Say “Yes”
For those who aspire to be like him, Smith offers almost identical advice to what John Fanta told The Setonian just last month: “always say yes.”
“When they asked me if I wanted to do ‘50 in 50 in New Jersey, I said yes; if they asked me to do it in Cucamonga, I’ll do it; if they ask me if I want to do it in the North Pole, I’ll do it,” Smith said. “Sometimes we have the temptation to say no when we don’t understand what we're getting ourselves into, but I have had so many experiences in television where I have said yes and it has led to things beyond my wildest dreams—so take it from me.”
Another piece of advice Smith gave was to embrace uncomfortability.
“If you’re not challenging yourself, you’re not doing enough: you should be uncomfortable every day,” he said. “Because if you’re getting comfortable, whatever you’re doing is too easy—and the only way you continue to grow, develop and ascend is if you’re uncomfortable.”
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
