ESPN and U2 Partnership

http://www.atu2.com/news/u2-songs-featured-on-espnfifa-commercials-again.html

http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2010/04/espn-launches-2010-fifa-world-cup-%E2%80%9Cone-game-changes-everything%E2%80%9D/

For the 2006 World Cup, ESPN used U2's "City of Blinding Lights" as the song for the main commercial that advertised the event globally. Well apparantly the partnership has extended to ESPN's coverage of the 2010 World Cup as well. As many of us have probably seen on ESPN, "City of Blinding Lights" is again being used for the World Cup commercial.

But this time around, 3 more ESPN spots for the World Cup feature U2 songs. From ESPN's announcement:

An initial series of four TV spots, set to the music of U2, will run April through June, and underscore the historic importance of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The first of the four, Robben Island, began airing April 7 across ESPN’s networks.
• Robben Island communicates the historic nature and importance of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, through the prism of soccer. This spot was filmed on location at Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. It is the site where eventual South African President Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades, alongside other political prisoners, during the country’s apartheid era. (Set to U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” with Soweto Gospel Choir).
• UNITED conveys the passion for the FIFA World Cup that unites disparate cultures (set to U2’s “Magnificent”).
• The Power of 10 celebrates the honor and burden that comes with wearing the most sacred jersey number in soccer (set to U2’s “Out of Control”).
• Passion captures the excitement that the FIFA World Cup invokes—highlighting the documented “baby boom” that occurred nine months after Germany hosted the 2006 event (set to U2’s “Desire”).