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DAZN’s new MLB show to feature familiar face, borrow ‘Football’ script

Logan Swaim, executive producer for DAZN’s daily MLB show “ChangeUp,” doesn’t hide the fact he is bringing influences from his prior football life into the new project.

“ChangeUp,” set to debut Thursday on MLB’s Opening Day, was initially described as an “NFL RedZone for baseball” when the Perform Group-owned OTT network struck a three-year, $300 million deal last November to create the show. But Swaim said he also intends to incorporate elements of the NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football,” where he was previously the highly regarded showrunner, into the nightly MLB whiparound program that will also feature scores, highlights, live game look-ins and analysis.

“This is something that will have the pace and traffic of ‘Red Zone’ but with the creativity and interplay of ‘Good Morning Football,’“ said Swaim, who moved over to DAZN early last month. “But through it all, we will absolutely be authentic to baseball.”

“ChangeUp” will be hosted in part by former ESPN broadcaster Adnan Virk, who previously worked with former ESPN President and current DAZN Executive Chairman John Skipper before Virk had his own unceremonious departure from Bristol, Conn. ESPN in February fired Virk, accusing him of publicly leaking company secrets. After weeks of negotiations surrounding the last two years of his ESPN contract, Virk and ESPN mutually agreed to part ways with no further legal action.

Virk will be part of two-person host teams that will lead segments of “ChangeUp.” Other talent announcements for the show are expected prior to Opening Day. The program itself is scheduled to run weekdays from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET and 10 p.m. to midnight ET on weekend nights. The debut edition on Opening Day will begin at 1 p.m. ET to correspond to afternoon openers.

“Adnan is sort of like our Swiss Army knife,” Swaim said. “He’s a huge baseball fan, and will be able to fill a lot of roles within ‘ChangeUp.’ But as we fill out the talent roster, the individual personalities will also be dropping in on each other.”

The new program is designed to be a broader audience lure for both DAZN and MLB. For DAZN, “ChangeUp” represents a significant move into traditional stick-and-ball sports beyond its initial base of activity in combat sports, and a key weeknight programming anchor to supplement its other marquee events that are primarily concentrated on weekends. For MLB, the show is a tool to help reach younger fans, particularly those who do not have a traditional cable or satellite TV subscription.

“This is part of our ongoing effort to have baseball on every available platform,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said last fall. “We are convinced that Perform and DAZN will help us grow our game and reach new fans.”

DAZN, meanwhile, is also seeking to work with individual MLB teams to have “ChangeUp” shown in ballparks during rain delays and other non-game windows. The New York Mets are among those already aligned with DAZN and this season will offer a promotion to its fans of a free month of the OTT service, which typically costs $9.99 per month.

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