ESPN Presents: Never Tell Me The Odds

ESPN Presents: Never Tell Me The Odds is ESPN's official Star Wars show, which debuted on April 26, 2023 and is hosted by Arda Öcal, Ryan McGee, and Clinton Yates. Previous guests of the show include Carl Weathers[1] and Billy Dee Williams.[3] The show aims to explore and celebrate Star Wars while simultaneously connecting it to sports[1] and it consists of 13 episodes as of July 2024.[2]

In February 2024, the trio did a live show from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida during the Tampa Bay Lightning NHL team's Star Wars Night.[4] Footage from the show's trip to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge also aired on ESPN TV.[5]

The show's co-host Öcal frequently documents Star Wars crossovers, such as Star Wars Nights at sporting events. In 2024, he unveiled Dave Filoni's latest jersey design for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hockey team's Annual Star Wars Night, which was Ahsoka Tano–themed.[6] Öcal has also hosted episodes of SportsCenter across platforms while dressed up as Grand Admiral Thrawn[7] and a TED Talk discussing Star Wars and Thrawn in the final third of the speech.[8]

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Premium-Era-real May The 4th Be With You: ESPN Trio Form "Revel Alliance" For "Star Wars" Podcast by Bill Hofheimer on ESPN Front Row (May 4, 2023) (backup link archived on June 3, 2023)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Apple-Logo ESPN Presents: Never Tell Me The Odds on Apple Podcasts (backup link)
  3. ↑ Spotify-Logo Cloud City Interior Design - ESPN Presents: Never Tell Me The Odds on Spotify: "The guys sit down to speak with Billy Dee Williams about playing Lando Calrissian, capes, baseball, and his new book, 'What Have We Here?'" (backup link)
  4. ↑ TwitterLogo Arda Öcal (@Arda) on Twitter (post on March 6, 2024): "We talk our amazing experience at @WaltDisneyWorld @starwars Galaxy's Edge before doors opened, our favorite things about the park, plus we do trivia and hang out with @TBLightning fans (and get attacked by @ThunderBugTBL) before Star Wars Night at @AmalieArena and reveal who the biggest Star Wars fan is in the Lightning organization (to the point that he shows up as Yoda to team functions!) Such a great experience, thank you everyone that stopped by!" (backup link)
  5. ↑ TwitterLogo Clinton Yates (@clintonyates) on Twitter (post on February 23, 2024): "work was fun this week, kiddos! nothing like kicking it at @WaltDisneyWorld with my boys @arda & @ESPNMcGee" (backup link)
  6. ↑ TwitterLogo x-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) on Twitter (post on March 20, 2024): "It's FINALLY time—@Arda is here to show y'all this year's Star Wars jersey!" (backup link)
  7. ↑ TwitterLogo Arda Öcal (@Arda) on Twitter (post on October 30, 2023): "1000 likes and I'll host @SportsCenter like this @dave_filoni @starwars" (backup link)
  8. ↑ YouTube I Draw Real World Inspiration from Things I Use to Escape from the Real World | Arda Ocal | TEDxUW on the TEDx Talks YouTube channel (February 12, 2024) (backup link)

External links