One of the best days of sports radio every year takes place Friday when ESPN Radio presents the annual V Foundation auction.Officially, it's the "Don't Give Up ESPNs V Foundation Auction," and it's also one of the most emotional, entertaining, meaningful and significant things that happens on sports radio all year long. It's must-listen radio. (Or, you can follow along at ESPNRadio.com online.)
While many items have been available as part of an online auction since June 29, the fundraising efforts for the V Foundation -- which conducts cancer research and was created by late college basketball coach Jim Valvano and ESPN in 1993 -- culminate with daylong, on-air activities Friday. The online auction ends Friday as well.
Hosts such as Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg, Colin Cowherd and Scott Van Pelt know the meaning of the event and drive the auction through interaction with guests and personal stories. Hourly "experiences" or special bid items highlight their respective shows. (Complete hour-by-hour list.)
This year people may donate via text messages, and the auction includes a "sweepstakes" element that allows people to earn a chance for a live broadcast of "Mike & Mike in the Morning" from their home. For every separate $50 minimum donation, people get once chance in the sweepstakes.
In the past, that on-site show has been a bid item but it has proven so popular (and pricey) that the down-to-earth hosts were out of the price range of many hard-core fans. With the sweepstakes, ESPN hopes many smaller donations will equal one large one as people hope for the chance to host the show.
Beyond the on-air talent, a behind-the-scenes team of ESPN personnel really drives the auction's success -- and it has been an unparalleled success. In 2009, the event raised $1,035,512 for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. That's a 415 percent increase from the total of $201,000 for the inaugural event in 2005.
That behind-the-scenes team, led by senior director Keith Goralski, sets the stage by working with pro teams, leagues and other sources to secure charity bid items and experiences. Items range from signed jerseys and memorabilia to special access ticket packages for pro and college events as well as ESPN-related experiences to visit various events and shows.
"Our first year we really didn't know what we were doing, but we put together a lot of nice experiences and that's grown in past few years. Teams really want to be involved, so they'll come up with nice packages -- and then we'll haggle a little to try to make them even better," said Amanda Gifford, an program director for ESPN Radio who directs a team that seeks donations and then works to fulfill experiences once the auction ends. "Sometimes you just hit the jackpot.
"As far as the ESPN experiences, those are a slam dunk to make happen because their ours."
Experiences that draw bids of $10,000 or more also get extra addition because Gifford and other ESPN personnel then arrange logistics and travel for the winning bidders.
The auction and all its related facets provide year-round activity for the folks at ESPN. After its conclusion, they focusing on delivering all the items to winning bidders and fulfilling all the experiences. Because those experiences allow winners to attend a session of "College GameDay" or any of several other ESPN shows or team-related functions, and because those winners could be based anywhere, logistics can provide a challenge. Especially because "GameDay," for example, does not know the site of its specific taping until a week before any given college football Saturday.
Still, for Gifford and all those who help with that work (and then start planning in each March, if not earlier, for subsequent auctions), the efforts are worthwhile. Every dollar from every auction item goes to the V Foundation, which has raised more than $95 million to fund cancer research grants since its inception, and those who help with the event know its value as well.
"It's awesome because you're going to work and making a difference. It's really a cool part of the job, and people here all get engaged," said Gifford, who previously served as a producer for "The Herd with Colin Cowherd." "Two years ago, a woman called and shared her story and it was emotional. Colin was crying on the air."
Along with the online auction, hourly special bid items will be available from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the various ESPN Radio programs. Those include special access to events such as the Breenders Cup, Little League World Series and a "Monday Night Football" game as well as ESPN-specific tours and experiences. Penn State, USC and Virginia Tech also have one-of-a-kind experiences as part of the hourly packages. (Complete hour-by-hour list.)
Ironically, sports news (and some might argue ESPN-created hype) could provide the biggest challenge for the V Foundation auction this year. On a typical Thursday before the auction, ESPN Radio hosts would start discussing and promoting the auction heavily. This year, though, the LeBron James free agency drama -- with tonight's made-for-TV announcement about his destination on ESPN -- has kept talk away from the auction.
On Friday, in the aftermath of the James announcement, when the typical auction-sports ratio of talk might be 80-20, the radio shows might focus more on sports than in previous years. With a move to 50-50 in terms of auction-sports (and even that might be a tough balance to maintain judging by all the James hype in recent days), the lack of discussion might hurt the auction's bottom line.
Hopefully, though, the auction's reputation (because of so many cool experiences and items) and the many ESPN Radio hosts will give the auction the attention it deserves. Because it certainly deserves all the attention it gets.