Evolve Studios Rocks ESPN College Gameday with "Comin’ to Your City" Country Spectacle

Production company Evolve Studios have unveiled its latest work for this season’s ESPN College Gameday Opening, "Comin’ to Your City". Shot in Evolve Studio’s own city, Nashville, the anthemic film stars country musicians Lainey Wilson, Darius Rucker, The Cadillac Three and Big & Rich and leans into the cultural and musical heritage of the region. 

ESPN College Gameday is college football’s premier pregame show and one of the most popular sports programmes in the US. Airing each week of the season from September through to the highly anticipated College Football Playoff National Championship in January, the show travels college campuses to showcase a different game each week, opening each show with the “Comin’ to Your City” spot. 

ESPN tasked Evolve Studios with creating a country music festival inspired promotional spot, to accompany the track performed by some of the biggest names in country music, including double Grammy nominee and the 2023 Country Music Association’s ‘Entertainer of the Year’, Lainey Wilson.

Evolve Studios organised and hosted the live music event for a production that spanned three days and involved over 600 festival goers plus more than 200 crew members. The size and scale of the production, all handled by Evolve Studios, was unlike many others seen within Nashville, highlighting how the studio is leading the way for big productions within the market. 

Channeling the cultural and musical heritage of Nashville, Evolve Studios selected Harlinsdale Park in Franklin, Tennessee to host the production. The town was named one of five ‘Great American Main Streets’ and is known for its thriving country music scene. 

Joel Edwards, executive producer, Evolve Studios commented, “This project really channelled a lot of what Evolve Studios and Music City has to offer; which is production miracles on demand. Meshing together elite talent performances, in an epic live event, with a high concept creative, on a controlled film set environment, all in a very limited window of time. I love that in our relationship with ESPN and so many other of our clients, we consistently push the envelope of what’s creatively and logistically possible.”

The final of the ESPN College Gameday takes place on the 8th January 2024.