ESPN has released their latest ESPN Cover Story, this time featuring star of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Auston Matthews, that can be seen now across digital, linear, and social media platforms.
What’s Happening:
- The latest ESPN Cover Story featuring Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews debuted today across the network’s digital, linear and social platforms.
- As the NHL continues its ongoing quest to grow the game, the sport craves a player who can take hockey stardom into something transcendent, and Matthews – a 24-year-old Mexican-American center from Arizona – may be their best bet. The No. 1 NHL Draft pick in 2016, Matthews took an unconventional journey to hockey stardom and broke out big with four goals in his first game. Since then, he posted the best rookie season in the 100-year history of the Toronto Maple Leafs and has only built from there, leading the league in goals with 41 in 2020-21.
- Matthews isn’t satisfied to follow the same old playbook to NHL stardom. He was among the first NHL players to launch an NFT. He commissioned his equipment partner, CCM, to make a handful of custom skates this year that he plans to debut for games. He has his own entourage and pops up with Justin Bieber’s too. Matthews has achieved a level of celebrity that few players in the sport ever have.
- For this ESPN Cover Story, ESPN national NHL reporter Emily Kaplan talks with Matthews about his family’s critical support and influence throughout his career, his friendship with Bieber and the desire to bring Toronto its first Stanley Cup in more than 50 years.
- The ESPN Cover Story: Auston Matthews video feature will air across SportsCenter throughout the day, along with a full digital package on the ESPN app and original storytelling across social media platforms. You can watch it here, and read the ESPN Cover Story here.
- ESPN Cover Story, the sports fan’s new monthly ticket to the biggest stories on the most captivating athletes – told with inside access, bold reporting and unforgettable visuals. ESPN Cover Story is a reimagined offering of sports’ breakthrough moments told through athletes’ stories, and produced in a modern, multimedia presentation that takes advantage of ESPN’s unmatched storytelling across every platform.