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Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated Presents: The 2016 SI NFL Draft Preview Special Starring Cris Collinsworth, Boomer Esiason, Howie Long And Phil Simms Of The Experts Network

SHOW TO PREMIERE ON APRIL 26 ON SI.COM-TAPING IN FRONT OF STUDIO AUDIENCE AT TIME INC.’S NEW LOWER MANHATTAN HEADQUARTERS WILL INCLUDE FACEBOOK LIVE Q&A

Apr 21, 2016

New York, NY (April 21, 2016)—Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated Group will premiere “The SI 2016 NFL Draft Video Preview Special” starring The Experts Network’s Cris Collinsworth, Boomer Esiason, Howie Long and Phil Simms on April 26 at 1:30 p.m. The four former NFL players and current broadcast analysts will come together to offer predictions, position rankings and sleeper picks and to share stories of the nights they were drafted for the video special, which will be taped in front of a studio audience at Time Inc.’s new headquarters in lower Manhattan. The event will also allow football fans from around the world to participate in a special Q&A to be broadcast on SI’s Facebook Live feed, along with other live coverage of the show to be streamed across SI’s social channels. Select VOD from the special will be used across the SI Group digital network, including on FanSided sites and SI.com throughout draft week and beyond. The special event, created in partnership with The Experts Network (TXN), is the latest in a series of new video initiatives from the Sports Illustrated Group, including the recently announced ASN Ltd. to establish Sports Illustrated TV and digital networks across Asia; the Sports Illustrated Films production unit; the SI Overtime branded content studio; and expanded live video production, such as a recent partnership with Scout Media, which delivered over 12 hours of live programming on college football’s National Signing Day.

“Sports Illustrated is proud to partner with some of the most trusted figures in sports broadcasting for a one-of-a-kind look inside this year’s highly anticipated NFL draft,” said SI Group Editor Paul Fichtenbaum. “We’re excited to add these experts to SI’s football coverage and to invite our global audience to join the conversation with the pros.”

“We are thrilled to partner The Experts Network (TXN) with a prestigious sports media property such as Sports Illustrated,” said Frank Vuono, partner in 16W Marketing and The Experts Network. “TXN is comprised of top NFL analysts whose expertise over the last two decades has come to be trusted by all football fans. The SI NFL draft preview show will provide our guys with the opportunity to engage and reach a large number of those fans during one of the most popular events on the NFL calendar. When my business partner, Steve Rosner, and I formed this business partnership with the TXN experts, we envisioned these collaborations, especially in the digital space, and as such, we are very excited to work with the SI team.”

The Experts Network, also known as TXN and TXN Sports, is an interactive digital sports network consisting of sports analysts Cris Collinsworth, Boomer Esiason, Nick Faldo, Howie Long, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Phil Simms in partnership with sports marketing and management experts Steve Rosner and Frank Vuono. Collinsworth is an Emmy Award-winning football analyst for NBC Sports and majority owner of the football analytics site Pro Football Focus. Esiason is an analyst for CBS Sports’ The NFL Today and Showtime’s Inside the NFL, and he is the co-host of the national weekday morning radio show Boomer and Carton on WFAN-NY. He is also the anchor of Monday Night Football on Westwood One Radio Network. NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long is a studio analyst for FOX Sports’ FOX NFL Sunday. Phil Simms is the lead analyst for the NFL on CBS and analyst for Inside the NFL on Showtime.


About Time Inc.

Time Inc. (NYSE:TIME) is one of the world’s leading media companies, with a monthly global print audience of over 120 million and worldwide digital properties that attract more than 150 million visitors each month, including over 60 websites. Our influential brands include People, Sports Illustrated, InStyle, Time, Real Simple and Southern Living, as well as more than 50 diverse titles in the United Kingdom.

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Danny Leonard
Time Inc.
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Danny_Leonard@timeinc.com