The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is the final broadcast of the tournament on ESPN before the rights move to Fox in 2018. draw.With interest in soccer and the relevance of the United States Men's National Team reaching new heights, ESPN will make sure that even soccer novices are informed of the World Cup draw. ESPN is dedicating what seems to be a good chunk of their staff to the unveiling of the quadrennial tournament's draw where the normal cast of soccer characters will be present, with one major addition: Nate Silver.

Bob Ley will anchor "FIFA World Cup Draw" at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 6 on ESPN2 and will be joined by analysts Michael Ballack, Alexi Lalas, Steve McManaman, Santiago Solari and Taylor Twellman during the two-hour broadcast. ESPN reporters Jeremy Schaap and John Sutcliffe will be on-site in Brazil for the announcement, as well.

The Worldwide Leader has the live portion of the event surrounded on all sides, but they will also add a feature element as well. ESPNFC will be covering the event in the days leading up to the announcement on Friday as well as a post-announcement recap. During the week, longform writer and fedora enthusiast Wright Thompson will give an in-depth look at the current state of Brazil, and ESPN reporter and Men in Blazer Roger Bennett will also be providing a feature on the 1994 World Cup draw which was held in Las Vegas.

But the most revelatory development of this announcement is the regularly scheduled television debut of ESPN's new oracle Nate Silver. His FiveThirtyEight website is still in the process of hiring writers and building its brand, but the numbers whiz will be analyzing the possible scenarios for each team in the draw, specifically the United States. Silver has been twiddling away trying to build his website since he was poached away from the New York Times and this will be a prime opportunity to see him in math mode on live television. His primary concern, like Bill Simmons before he was added to the "NBA Countdown" crew, will be running his website, but the more involved Silver is on the ESPN family of networks, the better, as far as ESPN is concerned. He gives the Bristol giant a statistical analysis legitimacy that their jock-y rivals don't have and can be a huge asset for the network.

So, hope that the U.S. avoids a group of death, and tune in to watch Nate Silver analyze the group the Klinsmenn are placed.

[ESPN]

About Jonathan Biles

Jonathan Biles is a staff writer for Awful Announcing.

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