Jason Kelce is able to blitz the ranks of TV’s late-night hosts in a limited-run wee-hours program on ESPN.

“They Name It Late Evening with Jason Kelce” will air on 5 consecutive overnights heading into late-season NFL soccer weekends. The sequence will run at 1 a.m. on Saturdays beginning January 4 on ESPN, with the ultimate broadcast launching at 1:30 a.m. The one-hour present will originate from Philadelphia, the place Kelce loved a a 13-season run within the NFL, and he’ll maintain forth in entrance of a stay crowd on the metropolis’s Union Switch. Every present will likely be taped Friday night, simply hours earlier than this system goes to air.

It stays unclear if ESPN sees a future for Kelce round midnight, however the present is claimed to be one thing the previous soccer middle wished to attempt when he joined the Disney sports activities large earlier this 12 months, ostensibly as a key addition to “Monday Evening Countdown,” the pre-show that leads into “Monday Evening Soccer.”

On the time of his rent in Could, Disney and ESPN stated that “Additional alternatives will likely be explored.”

Kelce is thought for his gridiron prowess, but in addition for an outsized character. He and his brother, Travis, host a preferred weekly podcast, “New Heights,” and he has made a handful of TV appearances, together with within the WWE’s WrestleMania.

He’ll make a late-night play in what is comparatively protected area. Not one of the best-known late-night applications on ABC, CBS and NBC run authentic broadcasts on Friday nights any longer, and the primary Friday-night choice, HBO’s “Actual Time with Invoice Maher,” is on earlier within the night. As for late-night applications aimed toward sports activities followers, most of them already air on ESPN, which options Scott Van Pelt in an end-of-the-night model of “SportsCenter.”

The present may have most of the trappings to which late-night followers have turn into accustomed. There will likely be stay music from the Philadelphia band Snacktime. Kelce and visitors are anticipated to look at the approaching weekend’s video games, and can search for followers on the venue to participate within the proceedings.

The programming gambit ought to, on the very least, draw youthful crowds to NFL play. The present will debut hours earlier than the final weekend of NFL regular-season play, with subsequent hours main into Tremendous Wild Card, Divisional and Convention Championship weekends earlier than the finale forward of the Professional Bowl Video games and 9 days from Tremendous Bowl LIX.

ESPN will televise authentic broadcasts of the present, but in addition make every episode accessible on ESPN+, ESPN YouTube and the Jason Kelce channel on YouTube introduced by ESPN. Replays will air on ESPN2. NFL Movies will produce the present together with Kelce’s Wooderboy Productions and Skydance Sports activities.

Whereas the present is new, it makes some nods to historical past. This system’s title pays homage to “They Name It Professional Soccer,” the primary full-length venture from NFL Movies, The unique function was chosen for preservation within the Nationwide Movie Registry in 2012, cited for example of how soccer and sports activities have been showcased on tv following its creation. Time will inform whether or not an identical honor is accorded Kelce’s new venture.