The Bushnell to Host ESPN Women and Sports Town Meeting
Contact: Shawna Browne (860) 987-6096; e-mail: shawna_browne@bushnell.org
HARTFORD, Conn., June 4, 2002 - Actor Holly Hunter will be among the group of high-profile panelists scheduled to participate in On the Basis of Sex: An ESPN Town Meeting, Saturday, June 22 from 9-10 p.m. at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. ESPN will televise live the open-to-the-public roundtable discussion and question-and-answer session as part of the network's Women and Sports Weekend, which will recognize the 30th anniversary of Title IX and its dramatic influence on the history of American sports.
Hunter, a spokesperson for the Women's Sports Foundation, played Billie Jean King in the television movie, When Billie Beat Bobby. Other individuals that have been added to the panel include Jessica Gavora, policy adviser for U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and author of Tilting the Playing Field: Schools, Sports, Sex and Title IX; and long-time college football coach and current ESPN analyst Bill Curry.
Previously announced participants include Geno Auriemma, head women's basketball coach at National Champion University of Connecticut, and Nancy Hogshead, Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer, former Women's Sports Foundation President and Title IX expert/attorney. Other panelists will be announced at a later time. ESPN's Bob Ley will moderate the discussion and each of the panelists, as well as Ley, will take questions from the audience and from ESPN.com users as part of the program.
Some of the discussion topics will include: * The impact of Title IX on women's achievement in sports and the law's consequence on male athletes and sports such as college football, * The marketing of women's sports, * The viability of women's professional sports leagues, * The changing perception of female athletes and more.
TICKETS FOR THE ESPN TOWN MEETING, JUNE 22 Tickets for the ESPN Town Meeting in The Bushnell's Belding Theater are available through The Bushnell Box Office. They are priced between $20-30. For more information or to order tickets by phone, call (860) 987-5900. Buy online at www.bushnell.org.
The ESPN Town Meeting will be immediately preceded on ESPN by an hour-long documentary, On the Basis of Sex: The Battle of Title IX, from 8-9 p.m. The program will trace the evolution and fallout of Title IX, the progress, change and controversy its caused and the outstanding issues related to gender equity in sports that still remain.
ESPN's Women and Sports Weekend (June 21-23) ESPN's Women and Sports Weekend, which will recognize the 30th anniversary of Title IX, will include nearly 40 hours of women's sports-related events, specials, documentaries and series on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic. Women and Sports Weekend will culminate on the anniversary day - Sunday, June 23 - with four live women's sports events, select taped events, plus special editions of the weekly Sports Reporters and Outside the Lines. Additionally, ESPN Classic will offer replays of the 1999 Women's World Cup Championship and the 1973 Battle of the Sexes: Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs and the 2002 Women's NCAA Basketball Championship (Connecticut vs. Oklahoma).
ESPN, the leader in women's sports coverage, currently features more than 20 women's sports including the WNBA, college basketball, including the NCAA Tournament golf, tennis, figure skating and action sports. ESPN is also the leader in placing female commentators on-air in key roles.
ESPN Contact: Josh Krulewitz at (860) 766-2000; josh.krulewitz@espn.com
About The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts The Bushnell is Connecticut's premier performing arts center, hosting more than 450 events yearly, including major Broadway tours, symphony orchestras, family presentations, local arts and community events. In November 2001, The Bushnell completed a $45 million expansion project that added a second, 907-seat theater to the existing historic structure. The new, state-of-the-art performance hall allows for expanded arts, entertainment and community offerings. The Bushnell opened in January 1930 and is a non-profit organization. For more information, call The Bushnell at (860) 987-6000, Box Office at (860) 987-5900 or visit www.bushnell.org.