ESPN's Acclaimed Storytelling Brand, "SC Featured" Set to Return Next Week

The award-winning and critically acclaimed SC Featured is returning for another season on ESPN, with the return highlighting a three-time Slam Dunk Contest champion.

What’s Happening: 

• ESPN has announced that the acclaimed SC Featured storytelling brand is set to make its return for a new season this Sunday, Feb. 15 on SportsCenter. 
• The Emmy-winning series continues its long-standing tradition of Sunday features within ESPN’s distinguished news and information platform.
• SC Featured stories air exclusively during the NFL offseason months, offering compelling narratives that captivate fans.
• Since its inception in 2002 as the SportsCenter Sunday feature, later rebranded as SC Featured in 2013, the brand has garnered significant recognition. In the last 12 years, SC Featured stories have won more than 90 industry awards.
• The series has received over 50 Sports Emmy Award nominations and has won six times, including a win in 2025 for The 6-Year Plan.

The New Season: 

• Kicking off the new season, Big Air: The Mac McClung Story highlights the three-time Slam Dunk Contest Champion and former G League MVP Mac McClung whose viral dunks have made him a fan favorite, even as he fights to keep a permanent spot on an NBA roster.
• The segment will air in the 8 a.m. hour of Sunday’s SportsCenter, re-air in the 11 p.m. program and then again in other editions. SC Featured segments are also available on ESPN’s YouTube SC Featured playlist and in an exclusive archive on ESPN+.

• In addition to Big Air: The Mac McClung Story, other stories scheduled to air during the SC Featured season include (in no particular order, dates TBD):
  • Azzi Fudd – A story of resilience and reinvention – UCONN star Azzi Fudd is one of the top players in college women’s basketball and poised to become the number one draft pick in the 2026 WNBA draft.
  • The Most Famous Seven Notes in Sports – The origin story of how “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes went from a modest indie rock hit to a melody chanted in stadiums across the globe.
  • Kirk Gibson – Once a symbol of grit on baseball’s biggest stage, Kirk Gibson now channels that same fight into battling Parkinson’s – including his inspiring efforts to open a treatment center that provides free treatment to others facing the disease.
  • Finding My Father – Veteran ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler shares his deeply personal story about discovering audio tapes recorded by his father before dying of cancer – an intimate journey of revelation and connection with a man he once knew little about.
    

What They’re Saying: 

• Jose Morales, Vice President & Executive Producer, Original Content: “For more than two decades, SC Featured has set the benchmark for storytelling within SportsCenter. Our Features Unit brings creativity, care and journalistic rigor to every story – a commitment that continues to resonate with fans and across the industry…This season builds on the series’ tradition of powerful, deeply human narratives that reflect depth, ambition and heart.” 
  

A Featured Feature: 

• ESPN’s SC Featured is an award-winning storytelling series connected to SportsCenter that highlights powerful, emotional, and often inspiring stories from the world of sports, going far beyond typical game highlights or scores. It’s become one of ESPN’s signature long-form segments.
• Each segment focuses on a unique sports-related narrative, from personal journeys and historical pieces to cultural moments and compelling characters. These features aim to inform, move, and entertain viewers through rich, human-centered storytelling.
• SC Featured is SportsCenter’s long-form feature documentary series, and has been repeatedly honored with the ESPN Features Unit (responsible for producing SC Featured since 2002) being recognized with 24 Edward R. Murrow Journalism Awards in 22 years. SC Featured has won 10 in the last nine years.