ESPN Is Running Promos For The End Of Stephen A. Smith's Vacation

Stephen A. Smith's summer vacation ending, and soon he'll be back on First Take. No one is happier about this than his employer, ESPN.

They're so happy about it that they put together a commercial — which airs daily — to get you excited about it too!

Look, summer is a bit of a slow time in the sports world. You've got baseball, but by the time you get to August, a healthy chunk of the playoff picture has started to solidify. NFL and college football training camps start, but it's not the sort of thing that gets broadcast aside from the occasional live hits, clips, or interviews.

So, ESPN decided to create its own "must-see" television event. They'll need more of them too since it looks like the network won't be airing any Big Ten games for the time being.

Smith has been absent from First Take for most of the summer. In July, he revealed that a major reason for this was to give him time to recover from shoulder surgery.

Stephen A. Smith fans already know where to find him

Stephen A. Smith is a divisive talent. He's a "love him or hate him" kind of guy. Those that are fans will no doubt be pumped to see he's coming back, and how else would they know he's coming back (aside from many other ways)?

A commercial the day before or even the weekend before a Monday return would make some degree of sense, but a thirty-second spot almost a week out comes off as kind of desperate. Like people are supposed to jump off their couches, run to their calendars, and pencil in an Aug. 15 date with First Take.

Anyone interested in First Take knows when and where to find it. It's hard to picture this ad scrounging up any new eyeballs.

Given the way they are hemorrhaging both subscribers and revenue dollars at the moment, It seems ESPN will do whatever it takes to attract viewers, even if it means pumping up one of their personalities coming back from vacation.

Follow on Twitter: @Matt_Reigle

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.