Images from SportsNation.
In a matter of one hour Monday, SportsNation – fleetingly known as FavreNation – became a Guinness World Record holder.
In anticipation of ESPN’s Monday Night Football matchup of Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings against the Green Bay Packers, SportsNation’s “Brett Favre Blowout” on Monday afternoon featured hosts Colin Cowherd and Michelle Beadle attempting to reference Favre at least 200 times and as many as 275 times during the show.
Guinness World Record Adjudicator Stuart Claxton was on hand at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios for the show, during which he officially witnessed and kept track of the legitimate mentions of Brett Favre in order for SportsNation to qualify for the Guinness World record for the “Most Mentions of a Name in a Television Program.”
Guinness World Records’ guidelines for the record attempt:
- The television program must be live and last a maximum of one hour.
- Only clearly audible mentions of the name on-air in the final broadcast count towards the final total. References in on-screen text are not eligible for inclusion.
- The mentions must be made as part of the show’s primary dialogue or discussion; inclusions of the name in background noise, audience chatter or music do not count.
- Mentions of the name must all be in the context of a discussion and used in sentences which are ostensive and make statements of either fact or value.
FavreNation on Monday included Weird Web Stories featuring Brett Favre, a mock interview in which Michelle posed questions to the world’s most famous No. 4, Michelle sporting a different Favre T-shirt in each show segment and numerous instances of the word “Favre” becoming a verb, an adverb or an adjective. After the first 10 minutes of the show, Claxton had counted 53 Favre references.
At the “End of the Day,” SportsNation was officially recognized for mentioning Favre 203 times and is now the rightful owner of a Guinness World Record for most mentions of a name in a television program. The show’s record is now in line for inclusion in the 2011 edition of the Guinness World Records.
“It is great to see ESPN celebrate multiple Guinness World Record-holder Brett Favre’s achievements in the NFL,” said Stuart Claxton, Guinness World Records adjudicator. “SportsNation are now officially the Guinness World Record holder for Most Mentions of a Name in a Television Program with a total of 203 mentions of the name Brett Favre. Congratulations to Colin and Michelle and everyone involved at ESPN.”
“All of us at SportsNation are humbled to have a record that will be listed in the same book as the world’s largest pizza and the world’s longest fingernails,” said coordinating producer Jamie Horowitz, a co-creator of the show along with Kevin Wildes.
For more information on the Guinness World Records, visit the official Web site: www.guinnessworldrecords.com.
On SportsNation, Colin Cowherd and Michelle Beadle interact with fans throughout the telecast, essentially making sports fans the third host of the show. The show regularly airs weekdays at 4 p.m., and re-airs at midnight, on ESPN2. Fans can deliver their input via Twitter (@SportsNation); Facebook (ESPN-SportsNation); ESPN.com’s SportsNation Web page; e-mail ([email protected]); and phone calls (1-888-FAN-ESPN) before, during and after the show.
About Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records is the universally recognized authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the annual Guinness World Records book is published in more than 100 countries and 25 languages and is the highest-selling books under copyright of all time with more than 3 million copies sold annually across the globe. Guinness World Records celebrated its 50th anniversary edition in 2004, a year after the sale of its 100 millionth copy. Guinness World Records also annually publishes the Gamer’s Edition; a records book devoted solely to the world of computer gaming and high score record achievements. The Guinness World Records 2010 edition is now available where books are sold. The Guinness World Records website (www.guinnessworldrecords.com) receives more than 11 million visitors a year. Guinness World Records is part of the Jim Pattison Group, one of Canada’s largest privately owned companies which is a conglomerate of interests, including advertising, broadcasting, grocery stores and automotive retailing.
-30-
