ESPN is a Dutch group of

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

sports channels, owned by

ESPN Inc. ESPN Inc. is an American multinational sports media conglomerate majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Hearst Communications as an equity stakeholder. For management and financial reporting purposes, the company is the main entity w ...

, a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

(which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the

Hearst Communications Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, televi ...

(which owns the remaining 20%) and operated by Eredivisie Media & Marketing CV in which The Walt Disney Company (Benelux) BV has 51% ownership. ESPN launched as Fox Sports on 1 August 2013, buying out the Eredivisie Live service from the Dutch Football League. On 31 December 2020, it was renamed ESPN after the

acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced on December 14, 2017, and was completed on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company included the 20th Century Fox film and ...

in 2019. ESPN offers 4 HD channels and 1 Ultra HD channel,

Video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

services and ESPN app. Its main competitor is the Dutch

premium television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

service Ziggo Sport Totaal.

History

It launched as Eredivisie Live at the start of the 2008–09 season on 29 August 2008. Highlights of the Eredivisie can be seen on the national public broadcaster NOS. The pundit team includes Jan van Halst, Mario Been and

Pierre van Hooijdonk Pierre van Hooijdonk (; born 29 November 1969) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker. He had spells with clubs across Europe where he was a prolific goal scorer. Van Hooijdonk was capped 46 times for the Dutch nation ...

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has ...

provides a weekly analysis of the matches, which can be seen on the website of Eredivisie Live. The website also offers

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

matches. Between the 2009–10 and 2012–13 seasons, Eredivisie Live broadcast the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

live on Thursdays. From 2013–14 the coverage switched to sister service

Fox Sports International Fox Sports International (FSI) is an international sportscasting and production division of The Walt Disney Company. The division shares its name with both the United States-based sports division of Fox Corporation, and the chain of regional sport ...

for matches of non-Dutch clubs. In August 2013, the Eredivisie Media & Marketing CV would establish another two channels which included

while Eredivisie Live was rebranded into Fox Sports Eredivisie on 1 August 2013. On 20 March 2019 The Walt Disney Company acquired

21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., doing business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media corporation that was based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, fo ...

, including Fox Networks Group Benelux and Fox's 51% stake on the channel. Since July 2019, Fox Sports 1 is part of the

KPN KPN (in full Koninklijke KPN N.V., also Royal KPN N.V.) is a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. History Un ...

provider basic package. On 1 October 2020, it was announced that the networks would rebrand as ESPN on 31 December 2020, due to the

. The number of linear television channels was reduced to 4 on 2 August 2021. ESPN Ultra HD launched on 2 August 2021, During the Johan Cruijff Schaal. This also was Evert ten Napel's last match as ESPN commentator.

Channels

*ESPN *ESPN2 *ESPN3 *ESPN4 *ESPN Ultra HD *ESPN Watch (digital app for subscribers)

Coverage

Football

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

''All games live'' *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

''All games live, with late evening kick-off simulcasted on free-to-air channel FOX'' * Keuken Kampioen Divisie ''at least 2 games per week live with a switch program for all friday games (Voetbal op Vrijdag) (including the friday Eredivisie game)'' * Vrouwen Eredivisie ''Sunday game live'' *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footba ...

''All games with Dutch teams involved live, selected other games'' *

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on thei ...

''All games with Dutch teams involved live, selected other games'' * CONMEBOL Libertadores *

CONMEBOL Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American fo ...

CONMEBOL Recopa The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club football competition organized by C ...

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internat ...

''All games live'' *

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) The African section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Qatar, for national teams which are members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). A total of five slots in the ...

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

American Football

* NFL * NCAA College Football *

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

Baseball

* MLB

Basketball

* NBA ''6 games per week live'' * NCAA College Basketball

Ice Hockey

* NHL ''3 games per week live''

References

External links

ESPN
{{Television in the Netherlands

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Television channels in the Netherlands Television channels and stations established in 2013 2013 establishments in the Netherlands Eredivisie Sports television networks