Watch: “Collider” Video for ESPN https://vimeo.com/177621855

• ESPN Teams up with Interscope Records For Second Straight Year

• “Collider” Serves as ESPN and ABC’s 2016 Road to the College Football Playoff Theme Song
• Additional Top Artists Include Dierks Bentley, Jamie N Commons, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, OneRepublic, Selena Gomez, The Band Perry and The Struts

ESPN’s 2016 college football programming will feature the music of top artists, highlighted by X Ambassadors and Tom Morello’s “Collider,” as the soundtrack of ESPN’s season-long college football marketing campaign. The musical additions to ESPN’s college football coverage are made possible through ESPN and Interscope teaming up for the second straight year, utilizing  Universal Nashville, Downtown Records and Universal Latin’s music in various promotions and in-show usage across all of ESPN’s college football platforms.

“This music partnership with Interscope truly benefits both parties,” said ESPN music director Kevin Wilson. “It allows college football and the artists to reach each other’s fans in a very organic way. It has been said before, and still rings true: music and sports are continuously intertwined.”

“We are beyond excited to continue the ESPN/Interscope relationship for a second straight college football season,” said Steve Berman, Vice Chairman Interscope Geffen A&M Records. “ESPN has created some incredible moments for our artists’ music and it’s the perfect place and audience to showcase the diversity of our roster.”

After performing together at Lollapalooza in Chicago in July, X Ambassadors and Tom Morello released the “Collider” video ESPN will utilize throughout the season, which fans can see here.

“Each team’s road to the College Football Playoff begins on opening weekend and throughout the season those individual paths will intersect — or collide — with one another,” said senior director of marketing Emeka Ofodile. “That is why “Collider” is the perfect soundtrack for our regular season campaign as its title and lyrics foreshadow the pinnacle moments of the season-long journey which will end at the College Football Playoff.”

In addition to X Ambassadors and Tom Morello, college football fans will hear music from top artists including Aloe Blacc, Band of Horses, Dierks Bentley, DJ Snake, Fergie, J Balvin, Jamie N Commons, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, OneRepublic, SchoolboyQ, Selena Gomez, Mike Snow, The Band Perry, The Struts, Zedd and many more throughout the season. Additional ESPN 2016 college football music highlights include:

• New Music Fridays: ESPN will work with Interscope to debut singles from big-name artists on select ESPN Friday night college football telecasts throughout the season.
• The Struts: A custom cover of “We Will Rock You” along with new song “Put Your Hands Up” will be featured heavily throughout the year.
• Jamie N Commons: “Glory” debuted in an SEC Network commercial in July and the network plans to use the song throughout the 2016 college football season to promote the biggest game of the week.
• The Band Perry: Music from the band will be used throughout the season, including a special debut presentation of their new single “Comeback Kid” on Saturday, Sept. 10 during ABC’s Saturday Night Football: Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol.
• DJ Snake: Custom remix of his new song “The Half” will be used in Friday night college football telecasts
• Live Performances: Artists will perform live at ESPN college football games throughout the season including around the College Football Playoff National Championship

ESPN/ABC Set for Best College Football Opening Weekend Schedule Ever
ESPN will begin the 2016 college football season with Field & Stream Kickoff Week, a marquee week 1 slate featuring top teams, ranked squads going head-to-head and games from historic locations. The must-see schedule will feature the defending College Football Playoff National Champion and No. 1 team in ESPN.com’s “way too early top 25” Alabama, in addition to No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Florida State, No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 6 LSU. Overall, the announced schedule to date features at least 12 teams in the top 20, including four games with matchups of ranked teams. The location of games adds to the interest, as Lambeau Field hosts its first college game in more than 30 years and 2016’s first college football Saturday begins in Dublin, Ireland.

About X Ambassadors
X Ambassadors released their debut full length album VHS (KIDinaKORNER/Interscope) in June 2015, where it debuted at #7 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and has since been certified gold by the RIAA.  The set was produced by Grammy-winning producer Alex Da Kid and features the platinum selling, #1 Alternative radio song “Renegades.” New single “Unsteady” is currently climbing the charts as the band is out on their VHS 2.0 Tour.  X Ambassadors and Tom Morello teamed up for the  song “Collider” which appears on VHS 2.0, the deluxe edition of VHS which was released last month. X Ambassadors performed live as part of Good Morning America’s “Summer Concert Series from Central Park” this morning,  August 5^th. For more information and tour dates, visit www.xambassadors.com.

About Tom Morello
Incendiary rock guitarist Tom Morello, known for his innovative guitar solos and thunderous chords, is a groundbreaking artist whether in his solo career or as an original member of the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, two acts responsible for multiple Grammy Awards and a combined 30 million albums sold worldwide. He’s released four solo albums as The Nightwatchman and formed the band Street Sweeper Social Club with Boots Riley of The Coup in 2009. Morello has also been recognized by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the “100 Greatest Guitar Players of All-Time (#26).” Morello has produced or collaborated with artists of diverse genres including WuTang Clan, Johnny Cash, Tool, John Fogerty, Anti-Flag, Public Enemy, Joe Strummer, Crystal Method, Calle 13, Dave Mathews Band, Johnny Cash, Linkin Park, Travis Barker and Pete Seeger. In addition, he joined Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band for their 2014 world tour in support of Springsteen’s studio album High Hopes (Columbia Records) on which Morello is featured on eight tracks.  Most recently, Morello has joined forces with fellow Rage Against The Machine bandmates Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk, as well as Cypress Hill’s B-Real and Public Enemy’s Chuck D and DJ Lord to form the band Prophets of Rage. The group came together as a politically charged response to 2016’s tumultuous election year and after three sold-out club shows announced the launch of a 30-city trek across North America this summer.  “Collider” with X Ambassadors is one of the first installations of Morello’s upcoming solo project in which his signature guitar riffs will be magnified through the lenses of today’s top artists, DJs and producers.

About Interscope Geffen A&M
Combining the legacies of three of the most influential record labels in modern music history, Interscope Geffen A&M embarked on a new tradition of musical achievement with its unification on January 1, 1999.  Headed by Chairman and CEO John Janick, Interscope Geffen A&M is a major force in global music, developing chart-topping artists across a wide range of musical genres including rock, rap, pop and alternative. Interscope Geffen A&M is part of Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company. www.interscope.com

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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; [email protected] and @DerekVolner