Verizon’s FiOS TV customers will soon be able to experience one of the great traditions of spring. The Masters Tournament at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club will kick off ESPN’s championship golf schedule for 2013. In its sixth year at the Masters, ESPN will air 4.5 hours of live Tournament play daily from the first two rounds, the traditional Par 3 Contest the day preceding the Tournament and four days of action on the ESPN 3D Network. Expansive news, information and analysis will appear on a variety of ESPN platforms in the U.S. and internationally, including television, radio, online and mobile devices.
ESPN and ESPN Deportes will air 4.5 hours of live first and second round action on Thursday, April 11, and Friday, April 12, from 3-7:30 p.m. ET with an edited encore presentation in prime time each night from 8-11 p.m. Live ESPN coverage will also be simulcast on ESPN3 and WatchESPN.
Prior to the live television windows Thursday and Friday, SportsCenter will air updates every 30 minutes beginning at 9 a.m. daily.
Mike Tirico will serve as host of ESPN’s Thursday and Friday telecasts and will conduct player interviews from Augusta National’s Butler Cabin with analyst Curtis Strange. CBS will again produce the telecasts with CBS’ golf announce crew also contributing to the coverage.
SportsCenter at the Masters
ESPN’s flagship news and information program SportsCenter will feature live updates from Augusta National Golf Club throughout the Masters Tournament beginning the afternoon of Monday, April 8.
On the first two days of play, Thursday and Friday, April 11-12, SportsCenter will bring viewers up to date from Augusta every 30 minutes with highlights, scores and interviews until ESPN’s telecast of live play begins at 3 p.m. each day. Included will be Thursday’s traditional ceremonial first tee shot with legendary golfers Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
A one-hour SportsCenter at the Masters special will air Wednesday, April 10, at 5 p.m. on ESPN with a preview of the tournament. Host Scott Van Pelt will be joined by analyst Andy North and reporter Tom Rinaldi as well as ESPN.com national columnist Gene Wojciechowski and ESPN The Magazine columnist Rick Reilly. The SportsCenter special follows ESPN’s telecast of the Masters Par 3 Tournament from 3-5 p.m.
Several player press conferences will take place on Tuesday, April 9, and SportsCenter will air the news conferences of Rory McIlroy (9:30 a.m.), Tiger Woods (1 p.m.) and Phil Mickelson (2:30 p.m.).
Van Pelt and Mike Tirico will host SportsCenter reports from the Masters with North and Rinaldi and contributions from analysts Curtis Strange and Paul Azinger.
Wojciechowski will present a feature on 14-year-old Tianlang Guan, the youngest golfer ever to qualify for the Masters. The young phenom is shown during preparations in his native China, where Wojciechowski and an ESPN crew spent a week with him, and ESPN spent time with him as he first arrived at Augusta.
Also airing across multiple ESPN programs including SportsCenter will be Tirico’s conversation with Tiger Woods at the recent PGA TOUR event in Orlando.
Masters Par 3 Contest
The fun and family-oriented Masters Par 3 Contest will air Wednesday, April 10, from 3-5 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN3. The Par 3 Contest, which began in 1960, was first televised by ESPN in 2008. On the telecast, Mike Tirico, Andy North and Curtis Strange will be joined by Tom Rinaldi, who will conduct interviews on the putting green.
The Masters on ESPN Deportes
ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s multimedia, Spanish-language sports brand dedicated to providing the widest variety of sports to the U.S. Hispanic sports fan, will have live television coverage of the first and second rounds of the Masters Tournament on Thursday and Friday, April 11-12, from 3-7:30 p.m. Francisco Aleman (analyst), Silvia Bertolaccini (play-by-play) and John Sutcliffe (on-course reporter) will call the action from Augusta National Golf Club.
ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic will feature a tribute to the Masters in the days leading up to ESPN’s live coverage of the event with 43 hours of special programming. The tribute begins Tuesday, April 9, at 8 p.m. ET with an airing of highlights of the 1963 Masters won by Jack Nicklaus, on the 50th anniversary of that tournament, and will run straight through until 3 p.m. on Thursday, April 11, when ESPN’s live coverage of the 2013 Masters begins. Following the airing of the 1963 event, other Masters that are celebrating important anniversary dates also will air before the tribute airs highlights from every Masters played since 1960, starting chronologically with the 1960 Masters at 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 10.
The Masters on ESPN Digital Platforms
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WatchESPN
All Masters programming on ESPN is also available via WatchESPN, accessible to customers who receive ESPN’s linear networks as part of their FiOS TV subscription. Customers will be able to stream live coverage of the Masters from the convenience of their computers, smartphones, tablets or Xbox.
The free WatchESPN app is available on supported smartphones or tablets by visiting the iTunes App Store, Google Play Store or Amazon Appstore for Android. It will prompt customers to enter their FiOS TV subscriber credentials before accessing live content from WatchESPN. On computers, customers can visit http://watchespn.com/ and log in with their FiOS TV username and password for access. Additionally, Xbox LIVE Gold members can download the ESPN experience and verify their subscription for access through their Xbox.
ESPN3
ESPN’s multi-screen, live event sports network will simulcast ESPN’s telecast of the Masters Par 3 Contest on Wednesday, April 10, from 3-5 p.m. and the first and second rounds of play on Thursday and Friday, April 11-12, from 3-7:30 p.m.
The Masters Tournament – Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, GA
(all times Eastern)
Day/Date | Program | Time | Networks |
Wed., April 10 | Masters Par 3 Contest | 3 p.m. | ESPN, ESPN3, WatchESPN |
SportsCenter at the Masters | 5 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN | |
Thu., April 11 | First Round | 3 p.m. | ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3, WatchESPN |
First Round | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN 3D | |
First Round (encore) | 8 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN | |
Fri., April 12 | Second Round | 3 p.m. | ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3, WatchESPN |
Second Round | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN 3D | |
Second Round (encore) | 8 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN | |
Sat., April 13 | Third Round | 4 p.m. | ESPN 3D |
Sun., April 14 | Final Round | 4 p.m. | ESPN 3D |
Click HERE to visit ESPN’s online golf media kit containing commentator bios, schedules and more.
