ESPN will set up shop at Midtown Park, with Midtown's evolving bar and restaurant scene in the foreground and Houston's skyline as a backdrop, for its studio shows during Super Bowl LI.

The network and Houston Super Bowl Host Committee officials will announce the selection Friday at an event marking 100 days until the NFL championship game Feb. 5 at NRG Stadium.

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Seth Markman, ESPN's senior coordinating producer for NFL studio shows, said the selection of the six-acre park between McGowen, Anita, Travis and Main streets south of downtown reflects ESPN's recent practice of basing its Super Bowl operations in spectator-friendly areas removed from the primary Super Bowl base of operations, which in Houston's case will be the George R. Brown Convention Center.

"We have a huge footprint, and we feel that wherever we wind up setting up can be another area of town that can get some attention … if we don't decide to stay with the pack," Markman said. "The Midtown area seemed like a cool scene, with a lot going on at night. We also like to show iconic views of the city, and we will have this great backdrop of the Houston skyline."

ESPN last year based its Super Bowl shows at San Francisco's Marina Green, with its views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, rather than the downtown Moscone Center. In 2011, when the Super Bowl was held in Arlington and the NFL's main presence was in Dallas, ESPN's base of operations was at Sundance Square in Fort Worth.

While most of the daily action during the week leading up to the game will be in the convention center area, Markman said, "We'd like to think that we can draw our own crowds" to Midtown.

Midtown Park will host ESPN's full line of NFL daily shows, including "NFL Insiders," "NFL Live" plus "SportsCenter" and the Super Bowl Sunday edition of "NFL Countdown." ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg-Mike Golic show also will originate from the park.

ESPN's shows at the park will be open for public viewing. Details and schedules will be announced at a later date.

Midtown Park has been in the works for years. It was developed by the Midtown Redevelopment Authority and Houston-based Camden Properties. The six-acre property will eventually include a mixed-use facility with a public park, retail space, a 300-unit apartment complex and a public parking garage.

Camden, whose CEO, Ric Campo, is chairman of the Super Bowl Host Committee, gave the redevelopment authority a loan to fund the construction.

The Chronicle's Erin Mulvaney contributed to this report.