ESPN, Say It Ain't So...

Has anyone seen the recent ESPN banner ads featured on the Sports Business Journal website? ... ESPN CMS is currently running a banner ad campaign with the message: "Connecting brands with fans" -  a direct spinoff of this site's slogan (The "Think Tank for Connecting Brands with Fans).

I would like to give ESPN the benefit of the doubt that this is a "mere coincidence"... However, the timing is very interesting, as they just began running these banner ads this past week... After some preliminary research, I found that the Hicks Sports Marketing Group also features a similar slogan ("Connecting brands to fans"), so ESPN may have had this in the works...

Nonetheless, does this messaging even fall in line with ESPN's offerings? When you think of ESPN, do you think of a company that connects brands with fans? I would think that the company would want to stick with its core competency, being the Worldwide Leader in Sports...