The Surprising Way ESPN Is Breaking Into The Food Game
The announcement from ESPN made us wonder if the need for a special food offering to kick off the NFL postseason came first, or if the phrase "Postseasoning" was so good that it inspired the product development. Either way, ESPN is releasing a specially commissioned spice product that bears the clever name. In a press release issued on January 7, ESPN announced that they made 10,000 jars of Postseasoning. "The football postseason is when everything is elevated, so it made sense for ESPN to help people elevate their fandom in one of its most powerful expressions: food," said Curtis Friends, ESPN's Senior Director of Sports Marketing.
It's not for sale, however. Interested fans can only acquire a bottle by attending a postseason game, while supplies last. The first drop was at ESPN's Playoff Fan Central located at the Downtown Indianapolis Convention Center. If you're not able to grab a container of the official product, you can still whip together an imitation of Postseasoning, as ESPN included the base ingredients in the press release. It's essentially a mixture of salt, cayenne, onion, gochugaru, garlic, paprika, black pepper.
ESPN's Postseasoning recipes
Some may react to Postseasoning with the same emotional timbre as the first person to comment on the hype video ESPN uploaded to YouTube, who appeared to dislike the punny promotion. But if the flavor profile of the product's ingredients intrigues you, ESPN has your back. On a promotional website, ESPN has published four recipes made in partnership with the James Beard Award-winning chef and inductee to the Barbecue Hall of Fame Rodney Scott. All of the dishes incorporate the spice blend.
The recipes include a rack of pork ribs that gets covered with Postseasoning and a slathering of Rodney's Sauce, pimentos made with basic supermarket ingredients like Duke's mayonnaise and the ESPN product, deviled eggs, and a potato salad with the special ingredient added after the potatoes have been prepared and dressed. Each dish comes with a name that plays on the football theme with an ear for whimsy, like "Taters Gonna Tate Potato Salad."