Battle of the Gridiron Stars
| Battle of the Gridiron Stars | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sport |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Release | |
| Original network | ESPN |
| Original release | April 12, 2005 – May 17, 2006 |
Battle of the Gridiron Stars is a television show that airs on ESPN. It pits teams of National Football League players, one from the American Football Conference ("Americans") and the National Football Conference ("Nationals"), against each other in various athletic events.
The program, which takes its inspiration from the likes of Battle of the Network Stars and The Superstars, is produced by IMG, the world's leading sports management firm.
The show takes place at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Each team is coached by a former NFL quarterback: Archie Manning coaches the National team, and Ken Stabler coaches the American team.
Battle began in the spring of 2005 as ESPN sought replacement programming for the National Hockey League, which was in the midst of a lockout that would cost the league its entire season. Because of good ratings, and also in light of ESPN losing the NHL rights to OLN (now Versus), the series was renewed in 2006.
Due to licensing restrictions, no actual team names or game highlights are used on the program.
Participants (partial list)
- Peyton Manning
- Eli Manning
- Marvin Harrison
- Tiki Barber
- Chad Ocho Cinco
- LaDainian Tomlinson
- Brian Westbrook
- Julius Jones
- Willis McGahee
- Takeo Spikes
- Byron Leftwich
- Donnie Edwards
- Jason Witten
- Jake Delhomme
- Deion Branch
- Troy Brown
Competitions
Format
Each show consists of four competitions. The first three are worth one point to the winner, the final event is worth two points. Each season consists of six shows; the team with the most points at the end of the season is the winner.
Results
Stabler's Americans have beaten Manning's Nationals both years.
Production
IMG's media division TWI produced the event both years. Steve Mayer and Geoff Cochrane are the executive producers.