ESPN will run advertisements for Concussion.
Commercials for the controversial Will Smith movie — which is about NFL players suffering from brain damage due to the violent blows they take — have been “accepted” at the network and will begin airing soon, a well-placed source tells The Hollywood Reporter.
It is unclear if the spots will run during Monday Night Football or any other NFL-related programming. ESPN’s Monday Night Football deal — the richest among the league’s TV partners — extends through 2021 and is worth $15.2 billion to the NFL.
A request for comment to Sony, the NFL Network, NBC, CBS and Fox Sports on Concussion spots was not immediately returned.
ESPN declined to comment.
The film, set for a Christmas Day release, already is generating Oscar buzz for Smith, who portrays Nigeria-born Bennet Omalu, a Pittsburgh-based doctor who attempts to expose the correlation between the beating players take on the field and deadly head trauma.
In 2013, ESPN ended its high-profile collaboration with PBS’ Frontline on a concussion-investigation project, League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis. The collaboration was axed after pressure from the NFL, according to a New York Times report at the time.
Previously, the NFL said it plans to combat the negative PR from the film by hosting a series of discussions, conferences and scientific-strategy meetings about player safety.
