- A Full Day of Unique Sporting Events from around the Globe on ESPN2
- The Ocho’s First EVER Live Event: 2019 WCO World Cornhole Championship
- Acrobatic Pizza Trials, Cherry Pit Spitting & Stupid Robot Fighting League Among Highlights
- ‘Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story’ Bookends the Day
Editor’s Note: In an effort to make the world ask questions, not only is ESPN bringing back its annual ESPN8: The Ocho stunt, it’s changing the date! Instead of 8/8, The Ocho will return on Wednesday, Aug. 7. That’s RIGHT! However, August is the EIGHTH month of the year so we are hoping you will indulge us.
“Bold strategy, Cotton.”
ESPN8: The Ocho Presented by State Farm returns to bring fans the finest in seldom seen sports from around the globe on Wednesday, Aug. 7, when The Deuce (ESPN2) becomes The Ocho. The Ocho continues to be a multi-platform event with additional content available across ESPN.com, ESPN the Magazine and various ESPN social handles. All ESPN8: The Ocho events will be made available on demand on the ESPN App. Also available on demand, now through the end of August, are some fan favorite events from Ocho days gone by including The Amazing Games, Premier League Darts, World Sumo Challenge, Burger Eating and Spikeball.
Returning from last year’s line-up, “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” will bookend the day with showings at midnight and 10 p.m. E.T.
“There’s an electricity in the air, folks. A palpable hue of anticipation.”
This year’s line-up will include The Ocho’s first live event with 2019: WCO World Cornhole Championship at 8 p.m. Taking place in Valley Forge, Penn., the event follows a doubles format with a US and International bracket. The one-hour program will feature the finals of each bracket and then the World Champion is crowned based on the winner of the USA/International face off.
Among the newcomers to this year’s event are:
- IDEAL Electricians National Championship: Held in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., the 2018 IDEAL National Championship was a “highly-charged, no holds barred” event to crown the best electrician in North America.
- The Highland Games: Inspired by the Scottish games of yore, the Las Vegas Highland Games feature events such as Open Stone, Braemar Stone, Heavy Hammer, Light Hammers, Heavy Weight for Distance, Light Weight for Distance, Caber, Weight Over Bar and Sheaf.
- Acrobatic Pizza Trials: Held this past January in Columbus, Ohio, the USA Acrobatic Pizza Trials feature events such as freestyle acrobatics, largest dough stretch, fastest pie maker and fastest box folder. The Grand Prize for the freestyle event was a trip to Parma, Italy to compete in the World Pizza Championships.
- Cherry Pit Spitting: The 46th Annual Cherry Pit-Spitting Competition is held each year in Eau Claire, Mich., with one goal for competitors—to spit the farthest cherry pit.
- Stupid Robot Fighting League: Created in New Zealand by John Espin (Yes, that is his actual name.), Stupid Robot Fighting is a rather unique form of fighting that pits two life-sized hanging puppets controlled by an operator sitting behind each Stupid Robot.
- Sign Spinning: The 12th Annual World Sign Spinning Championship, held in Las Vegas, brought together AArrow Sign Spinners from more than 50 cities and a dozen countries to asses style, execution, and technical sign spinning ability.
Cross Platform Takeover
ESPN.com: This year’s visual guide to The Ocho, courtesy of ESPN.com, will not only explain where and when to watch all events, it will also give tips for playing the events at home. The guide will break down how each event works and the top players involved. Illustrated step-by-step instructions will also be included for the wildest events of the day.
ESPN the Magazine: A fun sit-down interview with the “LeBron of pizza acrobatics,” five-time world champ Tony Gemignani. The q-and-a covered everything from training to music selection for competition routines to thinking outside of the (pizza) box.
ESPN Social Media: Highlights and feature videos from The Ocho will be available via ESPN social accounts including @ESPN, @SportsCenter and @SportsNation. Join and follow the conversation with the hashtag #TheOcho.
Full ESPN 8: The Ocho Programming Schedule
| Date | Time | Event | Network |
| Wed, Aug 7 | Midnight | ‘Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story’ | ESPN8 |
| 2 a.m. | 2019 Spikeball College Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 3 a.m. | Big Buck World Championship XI | ESPN8 | |
| 3:30 a.m. | World Lumberjack Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 4:30 a.m. | World Axe Throwing Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 5:30 a.m. | 2019 Las Vegas Highland Games | ESPN8 | |
| 6 a.m. | 51st National Stone Skipping Competition | ESPN8 | |
| 7 a.m. | Best of Chess Boxing | ESPN8 | |
| 8 a.m. | Professional Arm Wrestling Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 8:30 a.m. | American E-kart Championship: Anyone’s Race | ESPN8 | |
| 9 a.m. | E:60 on ESPN8 World’s Ugliest Dog Contest, Sasquatch Calling, Great American Beard and Moustache Championship |
ESPN8 | |
| 9:30 a.m. | Moxie Games 3: Jugglers Under Attack Headis, Combat Juggling and Saber Fencing |
ESPN8 | |
| 11 a.m. | Dodge Juggle 3: Revenge of the Dodgeballs | ESPN8 | |
| Noon | 2019 US Pizza Team Trials | ESPN8 | |
| 1 p.m. | 46th Annual Cherry Pit Spitting Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 1:30 p.m. | Putt Putt Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 2 p.m. | 2019 Golden Tee World Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 2:30 p.m. | School Bus Figure 8 | ESPN8 | |
| 3 p.m. | European TramDriver Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 4 p.m. | 2018 Classic Tetris World Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 4:30 p.m. | 2019 Jelle’s Marble Runs | ESPN8 | |
| 5 p.m. | Lawn Mower Racing | ESPN8 | |
| 5:30 p.m. | 2019 Stupid Robot Fighting League | ESPN8 | |
| 6 p.m. | IDEAL Electricians National Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 7 p.m. | 2019 World Sign Spinning Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 7:30 p.m. | Slippery Stairs | ESPN8 | |
| 8 p.m. | 2019: WCO World Cornhole Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 9 p.m. | America’s Dodgeball Continental Cup: USA vs. Canada | ESPN8 | |
| 10 p.m. | ‘Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story’ | ESPN8 |
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