ESPN launches college band contest

Indiana Jones may have sought the Crystal Skull, but for college football teams, the real quest is for the Crystal Trophy, which began Sept. 29.

To celebrate the DVD and Blu-ray release of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull on Oct. 14, ESPN, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Paramount Home Entertainment have created a contest that brings together those two coveted crystal treasures.

Beginning Sept. 29, fans can go to ESPN.com and search for keyword “Indiana Jones” in order to view videos of seven university marching bands, representing some of the best college football programs in the country. Each performs the iconic Indiana Jones theme, “The Raiders March” by John Williams. The band with the best performance, as determined by online fan voting, will receive $25k for their school’s band program, from Lucasfilm Ltd and Paramount Home Entertainment.

The seven participating schools are: the University of Southern California, the University of Georgia, the University of Florida, the University of Texas, Clemson University, Louisiana State University and Auburn University. ESPN crews filmed the bands during the past several weeks and each band was encouraged to showcase its unique personality during the performance.

Five of the performances will be highlighted on air beginning Oct. 6, during ESPN’s College Football Live program. The winner will be revealed during ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot on Sat., Oct. 11.

For each vote submitted, fans will be entered to win a grand prize trip to an ESPN-televised Bowl Game or one of 25 copies of the quintessential Indiana Jones DVD box set, The Complete Adventure Collection, personally signed by Harrison Ford. Fans may vote for their favorite band once per day.

Rob Temple, vice president of ESPN's Sports Management group said, “College football is synonymous with ESPN, and the Indiana Jones theme song is synonymous with action and adventure. This was a unique way to engage our college football audience, while celebrating the unsung heroes of football Saturdays - the university marching bands.”

Directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Frank Marshall, with George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy as executive producers, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the newest adventure in the phenomenally successful INDIANA JONES series, which has earned six Academy Awards® and over $2 billion worldwide.

Released by Lucasfilm Ltd. and Paramount Home Entertainment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be available as a two-disc Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray on October 14 loaded with spectacular bonus features that allow viewers to accompany the filmmakers and cast on a fascinating journey behind-the-scenes of this modern classic.

Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE) is part of Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment. PPC is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. PHE is responsible for the worldwide sales, marketing and distribution of home entertainment products on behalf of various parties including: Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Studios, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, CBS, PBS and Hasbro and for providing home entertainment fulfillment services for DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment.

Lucasfilm, INDIANA JONES and related properties and titles are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. TM & (c) Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

The 2008 season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN360.com, ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN Regional Television will feature more than 400 regular and post-season games, including weekly Saturday night games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. In addition to weekly ESPN Thursday night games, ESPN or ESPN2 will feature games every Friday and select Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays.