Nessler Blackledge and Rowe to Call Chick-fil-A Bowl for ESPN

ATLANTA (December 1, 2011) -- Saturday ESPN College Football Primetime announcers Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe will return to Atlanta for ESPN's coverage of this year’s Chick-fil-A Bowl. The Chick-fil-A Bowl will be nationally telecast from the Georgia Dome on ESPN Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Nessler, a 30-year veteran of the booth, will provide the play-by-play call. Blackledge, who quarterbacked the 1982 Penn State Nittany Lions to a national title, will serve as analyst. Rowe, who has been with ESPN since 1998, will anchor the network’s coverage from the sideline.

The crew is no stranger to Chick-fil-A Bowl events, as Nessler will be on the call for his fourth Chick-fil-A Bowl, while Blackledge and Rowe will be working their second Chick-fil-A Bowl. As a team, Nessler, Blackledge and Rowe also provided coverage for the 2011 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta between Boise State and Georgia.  

The ESPN team of Dave Neal, David Diaz-Infante and Cara Capuano will handle the network’s coverage of the game for ESPN Radio. 

The 2010 Chick-fil-A Bowl was the most-watched game in the event’s 43-year history. The match-up between No. 19 South Carolina and No. 23 Florida State drew a record 8.4 million viewers, and was the most-viewed of all non-BCS bowl game telecasts on ESPN. This year’s Chick-fil-A Bowl will be broadcast in 3-D for the first time, joining an exclusive group of just six bowls that can be seen in a three-dimensional format.

For more information on the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl, visit www.chick-fil-abowl.com or follow us on Twitter (@chickfilabowl).

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About the Chick-fil-A Bowl
The Chick-fil-A Bowl is the ninth-oldest bowl game in the country and hosts the longest-running rivalry series between the ACC and SEC. Now in its 44th year, the Chick-fil-A Bowl has established itself as one of the nation’s elite bowl games with a string of 14 consecutive sellouts and has earned a reputation as one of the most competitive bowls in the nation. Ten of the last 19 games have been decided by a touchdown or less. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has disbursed more than $103 million in team payouts over its 43-year history and has increased team payout every year since 1996. The Bowl also leads all other bowl games in charitable and scholarship contributions, giving more than $7 million to organizations in need since 2002. Other events under the Chick-fil-A Bowl brand include the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge head coach and celebrity golf event each spring and the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game season-opening game over Labor Day weekend.