Liberty University’s sports television show, “Game On,” changed its name on Sept. 1 to “Flames Central” to better convey the program’s in-depth coverage of Liberty Athletics’ ascent over recent years.
The show will continue to produce the award-winning content that it has come to be characterized by. In August, the show won its eighth Emmy Award. Producer Matt Warner and co-anchors Rett McGibbon and Emily Austen will continue as the show’s on-camera talent.
“The award-winning team at Flames Central will bring Liberty fans the latest and most in-depth coverage of our student-athletes and teams,” said Director of Athletics Ian McCaw. “We are grateful for their partnership and excited for the year ahead.”
Warner said the show’s strength “is really in telling those in-depth stories, going deeper than just the box score or highlights.”
“We tell about athletes and their faith, seeing how God has worked through them to overcome different things in their life or to come to Liberty in the first place,” he said. “It’s one thing to talk about an athlete being great in his or her sport, but when you factor in the faith aspect, it adds a whole new layer to their story.”
The program airs on more than 22 affiliate stations across the country, with live premieres Fridays on ESPN+ at 2 p.m. EST. Locally, Flames fans can watch the show on Sundays on WDBJ at 11:35 p.m. and WSET at 12:30 p.m.
Warner noted that he and his fellow anchors consider the past few years at Liberty to be the “golden age of Flames athletics” based on the football team’s rise to the FBS and its first bowl game victory in 2019, back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids for men’s basketball, and the success of other Liberty squads on a national level.
“To see teams doing this across the board, competing at such a high level nationally, makes our job so much more fun but also so much more important because more eyes are now on Liberty than probably ever before in the school’s history.”
