ESPN Lays Out MNF Opener and ESPY Personalities

By Ben Grossman -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/20/2007 1:20:00 PM

ESPN will use its radio morning show team of Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic to call the second half of the season-opening double-header of Monday Night Football on September 10.

The duo will be joined in the booth by ESPN analyst Mike Ditka and on the field by sideline reporter Bonnie Bernstein. They will call the Arizona-San Francisco game that begins at 10:15 pm ET.

The first game of the night will feature Baltimore-Cincinnati at 7, a contest that will be called by ESPN’s main NFL team of Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser.

The network also announced a list of celebrities who will present at its 5th annual ESPY Awards, airing July 15 at 9 pm ET on ESPN.

The show will be co-hosted by Jimmy Kimmel Live host Jimmy Kimmel and Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James, who ESPN hopes will have a better performance than the last time he graced the company’s airwaves in his disappointing NBA Finals on ABC.

Among the usual mix of athletes and celebrities presenting are NFL star Peyton Manning, tennis star Maria Sharapova, actors Samuel L. Jackson and The Rock, and from the Disney synergy department, actress Kate Walsh, who stars in ABC’s upcoming Grey’s Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice.