History of ESPN
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ESPN is an
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-based global
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and
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channel that focuses on
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports highlight and talk shows, and other original programming. This article details the development of ESPN from its founding in 1978, and its history since the channel's launch on September 7, 1979.


Origins

ESPN was founded by
Bill Rasmussen William F. Rasmussen (born October 15, 1932) is an American sports director, and one of the founders of ESPN, along with Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan. Rasmussen served as the first president and CEO of ESPN. ESPN was founded on July 14, 1978, an ...
, his son
Scott Rasmussen Scott William Rasmussen (born March 30, 1956) is an American public opinion pollster and political analyst. He previously produced the ScottRasmussen.com Daily Tracking Poll, a gauge of American voters' political sentiment. He is editor-at-large ...
, then 43 year old eye doctor and
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insurance agent Ed Eagan.Miller & Shales, pp. 3–4 Bill, who had an affinity with sports for much of his life, was fired from his position as the communications manager for the
New England Whalers New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
in 1978. During his tenure with the hockey team, Rasmussen had met Eagan, who displayed an interest in building a career in television. Eagan approached Bill with the idea of creating a monthly
cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
program covering
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sports and was curious to see if the Whalers would be interested in being the main feature on the show. Though discouraged by his firing, Rasmussen and Eagan began to discuss a new course; Bill Rasmussen's original idea was to create a cable television network that focused on covering all sporting events in the state of Connecticut (for example, the Whalers, the
Bristol Red Sox The Bristol Red Sox baseball club was an American minor league baseball franchise. Based in Bristol, Connecticut, it was the Double-A Eastern League farm system affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for ten seasons (1973–82) and played at Muzzy Fi ...
and the
Connecticut Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's fo ...
), rather than just focusing on one team as Eagan had proposed. Rasmussen knew little about cable television at the time and with under 20% of homes receiving cable, the task to create such a network was tedious.Miller & Shales, p. 5 In the summer of 1978, the Rasmussens, with Eagan and his associate Bob Beyus – who owned a video production company – began to seek out support from cable operators and potential investors for the sports channel which they had come to name the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESP). They began to pitch their idea on June 26 of that year, inviting twelve representatives from local cable operators – only five of whom had accepted the offer. The representatives that were present were skeptical of the concept and stated that it would be impractical and too costly to take a risk on something that would seemingly falter. Despite the setback, the team held a
press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...
to help spread the word. 35 reporters were invited, however only four appeared and were less than enthusiastic about the prospects of the company. Beyus felt the future of ESP was in doubt and departed following the conference.Miller & Shales, p. 6 In spite of these initial difficulties, ESP was incorporated on July 13, 1978, for a fee of $91. The trio still had to find a way to broadcast their new sports channel and began their research at United Cable, where they were told about a new means of television distribution,
satellite communication A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...
. They were then directed to
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
, which had experience in satellite communication, having launched Satcom into orbit and frequently using the technology in
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; the concept was still new in the United States (satellite delivery was first used for full-time television broadcasts by
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
in September 1975), and was not immediately embraced. Al Parinello, who was hired by RCA to promote the new technology, received a phone call from Rasmussen and wanted to meet with him in person.Miller & Shales, pp. 7–8 At the meeting, Bill explained they were interested in regional sports broadcasting, however, Parinello explained that with satellite communication, their channel could be broadcast across the country. Furthermore, when they were informed that buying a continuous 24-hour satellite feed was less expensive than sending the signal across Connecticut via landlines, they agreed to buy the
transponder In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend word, blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a T ...
for the satellite. With a wider audience to appeal to, they began to retool their original concept, and on August 16, 1978, both father and son agreed that the channel would show all types of sports 24 hours a day, have a half-hour sports show every night, hire sportscasters and buy a fleet of trucks to travel across the nation covering various sporting events. Putting together money from various family members and associates, they put down $30,000 for the transponder. The group then had to search for property to set up their headquarters. They originally began looking for land in Plainville, however, due to an ordinance that prohibited satellite dishes, ESP could not settle there.Miller & Shales, p. 13 Instead, they chose to buy a parcel of land for $18,000 in
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
that had been built on a
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; the satellite signal was unaffected in the area, making it an ideal location.


Initial financing and development

The Rasmussens received financial aid from J. B. Doherty and K. S. Sweet Associates on an interim basis, but they were interested in finding permanent investors. Doherty shared a similar sentiment and after several failed attempts to do so, he approached Stuart Evey, a
Getty Oil Company Getty Oil was an American oil marketing company with its origins as part of the large integrated oil company founded by J. Paul Getty. History J. Paul Getty incorporated Getty Oil in 1942. He had previously worked in the oil fields of Oklaho ...
executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...
who was the vice president of non-oil operations. Evey was immediately interested in the venture and brought it to the attention of Getty's finance manager, George Conner. Though a bit wary, the company decided to invest in the project by February 1979.Miller & Shales, pp. 19–23


College sports rights

With the newly found financial assistance, Bill, aware that ESP would struggle to secure rights to professional sports at the time, felt the company could strike a deal with the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA) for the rights to rebroadcast their college sporting events.
College basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
at the time was popular, and Rasmussen felt rebroadcasting games such as the fast-paced basketball would attract new viewers. Furthermore, by having a contract with the NCAA, it would legitimize ESP without Rasmussen having to utilize the Getty name to help further his pursuits. Rasmussen organized a meeting with NCAA officials and, following a hastily put together presentation, negotiations began; the parties eventually came to terms. In the agreement, ESP agreed to broadcast eighteen different NCAA sports, including championship games, in their entirety, for two years. The contract was made official on March 14, 1979. Though ESP would not launch for some six months, the
1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1979 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 9 and ended with the championship game on Ma ...
had garnered considerable attention, as it was watched by 24.1 million viewers, due to the matchup between
Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...
and
Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...
– the tournament is regarded as having an instrumental part in ESP's eventual success due to the fact many viewers called their cable providers asking that they wanted "that channel that has all the basketball." In May 1979, Getty provided $15 million to the company and
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came to an agreement with ESP for the largest advertising contract in cable television history at the time, valued at $1.38 million.Miller & Shales, p. 25–26


Leadership and personnel

Rasmussen, realizing that ESP needed additional sponsors and advertising, decided to distinguish the network from the " Big Three three-letter networks,"
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
,
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and
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
, and renamed ESP as ESPN-TV. The name was shortened to just ESPN prior to the channel's launch. Evey, who had essentially gained control of the company, sought out ESPN's first president; Rasmussen wanted to hire
Dick Ebersol Duncan "Dick" Ebersol (; born July 28, 1947) is an American television executive and a senior adviser for NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. He had previously been the chairman of NBC Sports, producing large-scale television events such as the O ...
, who had been fired from NBC in January 1979, but Evey had little interest in doing so. Ebersol suggested
Chet Simmons Chester Robert "Chet" Simmons (July 11, 1928 – March 25, 2010) was a television executive. He worked at ABC Sports, NBC Sports and ESPN, and was the first Commissioner of the USFL. From 1957 to 1964, he helped build ABC Sports into a leader in ...
, who at the time was running
NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
but had become increasingly frustrated with NBC chairman Jane Cahill Pfeiffer, whose visions conflicted with those of Simmons.Miller & Shales, pp. 27–29 Evey promised Simmons that he would face little interference from Rasmussen, without Bill's knowledge, and Simmons agreed to become the network's first president – an appointment that was officially announced on July 18, 1979. With the Rasmussens gradually being pushed out of the company, Evey and Simmons continued to move forward, hiring a broadcasting team that included Jim Simpson,
George Grande George Grande (born 1947) (pronounced like the English word "grand") is an American sportscaster who is a former broadcaster for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball. Grande is also famous for having hosted the first broadcast of '' Sp ...
,
Bob Ley Robert A. Ley ( ; born March 16, 1955) is an American sports anchor and reporter, best known for his work at ESPN. A multiple Emmy Award-winner, he was the longest-tenured on-air employee of the network, having joined ESPN just three days after ...
,
Lee Leonard Lee Leonard (April 3, 1929 – December 16, 2018) was an American television personality who was involved in the launch of cable television networks ESPN and CNN. Early life Leonard was born Maxwell Lefkowitz on April 3, 1929, in New York City, ...
,
Chris Berman Christopher James Berman (born May 10, 1955), nicknamed "Boomer", is an American sportscaster. He has been an anchor for '' SportsCenter'' on ESPN since 1979, joining a month after its initial launch, and hosted the network's '' Sunday NFL Coun ...
and
Dick Vitale Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster fo ...
. As ESPN's launch date approached, the building that would house the new network had yet to be completed – the cable which was connected to the satellite was only plugged in about five minutes prior to the launch of the network.


Debut

On September7, 1979, at 7:00 p.m.
Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...
, an estimated 30,000 viewers tuned in to witness the launch of ESPN.Miller & Shales, pp. 44–45 Simultaneously, ESPN debuted its first ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'' telecast with anchors Lee Leonard and George Grande. The first words spoken were from Leonard who informed viewers: "If you're a fan, ''if'' you're a fan, what you'll see in the next minutes, hours, and days to follow may convince you you've gone to sports heaven." The first score Grande announced was
Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...
's victory over
Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States ...
at the US Open. ''SportsCenter'' lasted a half-hour, consisting mainly of videotaped highlights. Following the conclusion of the telecast, the network aired a men's professional slow-pitch softball game from
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with Joe Boyle working play-by-play, former
Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
player
Johnny Blanchard John Edwin Blanchard (February 26, 1933 – March 25, 2009) was an American professional baseball outfielder and catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, and Milwaukee Braves. Career Born ...
offering
color commentary A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...
and former
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
catcher Jim Price as field reporter. It was the first game of a best-of-nine World Series between the
Milwaukee Schlitz The Milwaukee Schlitz were a professional softball team that played in three men's professional softball leagues from 1977 through 1982 at Wilson Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. History Milwaukee began play in the inaugural 1977 American Profess ...
and the
Kentucky Bourbons The Kentucky Bourbons were a professional softball team that played in two men's professional softball leagues between 1977 and 1982 at Bishop David Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. The Bourbons, Cincinnati Suds and Pittsburgh Hardhats were the ...
.
ESPN Broadcast, 1979 APSPL World Series, Game 8, Milwaukee at Kentucky
Early programming also included boxing, wrestling and college soccer. The initial music package in 1979 was composed by veteran production music composer Dave Shields in San Diego using studio musicians from Hollywood and San Diego. He wrote a logo melody and expanded it for various purposes, and composed themes for all the programs at that time, including a reggae-rock style promotional song. They also used
Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...
's " Pulstar" as the theme to ''SportsCenter'' early on. ''SportsCenter'', the channel's flagship program, would grow in popularity throughout its history and became known for the six-note theme (colloquially referred to as "DaDaDa, DaDaDa") that was written by John Colby, who served as ESPN's
music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...
, producer and composer from 1984 to 1992 (who has also served as the music director and bandleader for the
ESPY Awards An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...
since the show's inception in 1993, and has composed themes for other ESPN programs and sports telecasts including college sports, NBA and NFL broadcasts, ''
Outside the Lines ''Outside the Lines'', or also referred to as ''OTL'', is an American television program on ESPN that looks "outside the lines" and examines critical issues in mostly American sports on and off the field of play. The primary host of the show is ...
'' and ESPNews). Two days after their first broadcast, Evey issued an ultimatum to Bill, in which he stated that Rasmussen should remain out of the way as he had little command within the company anymore. Scott was fired by Evey as there were growing conflicts between Evey, Simmons and Rasmussen. ESPN struggled financially during its early years. In 1980,
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Vice President and Director of Marketing Michael Roarty persuaded his company to invest $1million in ESPN. Anheuser-Busch gave an additional $5million to the network in 1981. Roarty saw these investments as a smart business decision, telling the ''
St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...
'' in 1994, "We gave them $1million that first year. And if we hadn't, they'd have gone under... I believed the beer drinker was a sports lover... The next year we gave them $5million. I think it turned out to be the best investment we've ever made." In 1993, ''
Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
'' named Roarty the sixth most powerful figure in American sports, citing his early commitment to ESPN.


Professional sports arrive

ESPN (along with the
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) was among the earliest cable-based broadcast partners for the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA). Lasting from 1982 to 1984, the network's relationship with the association marked its initial foray into American professional sports. After an 18-year hiatus, ESPN (by then, under the auspices of the ABC network) secured a $2.4 billion, six-year broadcast contract with the NBA, thereby revitalizing its historic compact with U.S.
professional basketball In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...
. In 1983, the
United States Football League 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 ...
(USFL) made its debut on ESPN and ABC. The league – which lasted for three seasons – enjoyed ephemeral success, some portion of which was a byproduct of the exposure afforded through ESPN coverage. In 1984, ABC reached a deal with Getty Oil to acquire ESPN. ABC retained an 80% share, and sold a 20% interest to
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. The Nabisco shares were later sold to the
Hearst Corporation 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, televis ...
, which still holds a 20% ownership stake in the channel today. In May 1985, ABC was purchased by
Capital Cities Communications Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was an American media company. It was founded in 1985 when Capital Cities Communications purchased the much larger American Broadcasting Company. It eventually proposed a merger of equals with The Walt Disney Company and ...
in a $3.5 billion deal that was finalized in February 1986. In February 1996,
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 October ...
purchased Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion, and assumed the latter company's 80% stake in ESPN at that time. According to an analysis published by ''
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'' in February 2008, ESPN "is probably worth more than 40% of Disney's entire value... based on prevailing cash-flow multiples in the industry." Despite it technically being 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 ...
, for all intents and purposes, ESPN operates as a division of Disney as a result of the company's controlling interest (as it was with ABC and Capital Cities before it). On July 15, 1985, ESPN started airing the "ESPN Sports Update" (later known as the "28/58 Update"), a condensed rundown of scores and news that aired at 28 and 58 minutes past the hour at times when ''SportsCenter'' was not airing.ESPN's 30th Anniversary – 30 ESPN Firsts & Innovations
ESPN MediaZone.
Later, when the viewers were used to it, the updates would often start with a sponsor where it used to say "28/58 Update" and the vertical display of "Update". The airtimes of these updates were modified to 18 and 58 minutes past the hour on May 30, 2005. In
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
, ESPN gained partial rights to the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
. The league agreed to the deal, as long as ESPN agreed to
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
the games on
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stations in the local
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of the participating teams. ''
ESPN Sunday Night Football ''ESPN Sunday Night Football'' is the ESPN cable network's weekly television broadcasts of Sunday evening National Football League (NFL) games. The first ESPN Sunday night broadcast occurred on November 8, 1987, while the last one aired on January ...
'' would last for 19 years and spur ESPN's rise to legitimacy. During the 2006 NFL season, ESPN began airing ''
Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...
'', formerly seen on its sister network ABC (NBC took over broadcast rights to the Sunday night game package). Former Commissioner
Paul Tagliabue Paul John Tagliabue (; born November 24, 1940) is an American lawyer who was the History of the NFL Commissioner, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). He took the position in 1989 NFL season, 1989 and served until September 1, 2006 ...
credits ESPN for revolutionizing the NFL: "ESPN was able to take the draft, the pregame and highlight shows, and other NFL programming to a new level." In 1990, ESPN added
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
to its lineup with the signing of a $400 million contract to broadcast the league's games. The contract was renewed and continued through to 2011.
Jon Miller Jon Miller (born October 11, 1951) is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball. Since 1997 he has been employed as a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants. He was also a baseball annou ...
and
Joe Morgan Joe Leonard Morgan (September 19, 1943 – October 11, 2020) was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Colt .45s / Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, ...
served as the longtime voices of the network's centerpiece ''Sunday Night Baseball'' broadcasts through the 2010 season.
Steve Phillips Stephen Francis Phillips (born May 18, 1963) is an American baseball analyst and former baseball executive. He served as the general manager of the New York Mets from 1997 through 2003. He worked as a baseball analyst for ESPN from 2005 until h ...
joined the announcing team for the 2009 season, but was later dismissed by the network that October. In December 2010, ESPN announced that Orel Hersheiser,
Dan Shulman Daniel Shulman is a Canadian sportscaster with Sportsnet as well as the American network ESPN. Shulman serves as a play-by-play announcer for select Toronto Blue Jays telecasts on Sportsnet and during 2018 and 2020 he hosted the baseball-the ...
and Bobby Valentine would be the new announcers of ''Sunday Night Baseball'' for the 2011 season. Valentine went back to managing after the 2011 season and was replaced by
Terry Francona Terrence Jon Francona (born April 22, 1959), nicknamed "Tito", is an American baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Cleveland Guardians in Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he was the manager of the Boston Red Sox fo ...
(Valentine and Francona essentially switched duties; Valentine became manager of the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
and
Terry Francona Terrence Jon Francona (born April 22, 1959), nicknamed "Tito", is an American baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Cleveland Guardians in Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he was the manager of the Boston Red Sox fo ...
became an analyst for ''Sunday Night Baseball''). ESPN broadcast each of the four major professional sports leagues in
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from 2002 until 2004, when it cut ties with the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
. The network aired NHL games from 1980 to 1982, from 1986 to 1989, from 1992 to 2004, and most recently from 2021 to the present. ESPN has been broadcasting
Major League Soccer 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 ...
games about once a week on ESPN2 since that league's inception in 1996. In most years, the annual All-Star Game and
MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...
championship game, and in some years, the Opening Night game, are shown on ABC broadcast stations. With the increasing cost of live sports entertainment, such as the
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
8.8 billion cost to acquire NFL football broadcast rights for eight years, "scripted entertainment has become a luxury item for ESPN," said David Carter, director of the Sports Business Institute at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
in a 2007 interview in ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''. ESPN broadcasts 65 sports, 24 hours a day in 16 languages in more than 200 countries.ESPN Inc
Encyclopædia Britannica.


Expansion

ESPN set itself apart from its competition by using the top reporters for each of their respective sports by the early 1990s. Some examples include:
Peter Gammons Peter Gammons (born April 9, 1945) is an American sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted ...
(baseball),
Chris Mortensen Chris Mortensen (born November 7, 1951) is an American journalist providing reports for ESPN's '' Sunday NFL Countdown'', ''Monday Night Countdown'', ''SportsCenter'', ESPN Radio, and ESPN.com. Early life Mortensen attended North Torrance Hi ...
(football),
Al Morganti Michael "Al" Morganti is an American journalist. He is an analyst who has covered the National Hockey League (NHL) and international competitions. He is currently a pre- and post-game analyst for the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL for games broadca ...
(hockey),
David Aldridge David Aldridge (born ) is an American sports journalist who works as a writer for ''The Athletic''. He was previously a reporter for Turner Sports, contributing to their NBA and MLB coverage. Other outlets that Aldridge has written and contribu ...
(basketball) and
Mel Kiper, Jr. Mel Kiper Jr. (; born July 25, 1960) is an analyst covering American football for ESPN. He has appeared on ESPN's annual NFL draft coverage since 1984, providing in-depth information on the nation's potential draft picks. Career Kiper said th ...
(
NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
). Other well-known reporters have included
Andrea Kremer Andrea Kremer (born February 25, 1959) is a multi-Emmy Award-winning American television sports journalist. She currently calls ''Thursday Night Football'' games for Amazon Prime Video making sports history, along with Hannah Storm, by becoming ...
,
Ed Werder Ed Werder (born May 3, 1960 in Longmont, Colorado) is an American sports reporter. He is the Dallas-based bureau reporter for ESPN, Werder is a reporter for the network's NFL coverage, and contributes to shows such as ''SportsCenter'', ''NFL Li ...
and Mark Schwartz. The 1990s and early 2000s saw a considerable growth within the company.
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
launched on
January 1 January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
, 1992 and has seen tremendous success.
ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...
was launched on October 1, 1993, beginning with the inaugural telecast of ''SportsNite'', hosted by
Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and r ...
and
Suzy Kolber Suzy Kolber (; born ) is an American football sideline reporter, co- producer, and sportscaster for ESPN. She was one of the original anchors of ESPN2 when it launched in 1993. Three years later, she left ESPN2 to join Fox Sports, and rejoined ...
. Three years later on November 1, 1996,
ESPNews ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News", stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns ...
was launched, with
Mike Tirico Mike Tirico (; born December 13, 1966) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the NFL play-by-play announcer on NBC's '' Sunday Night Football'', having replaced Al Michaels in 2022. From 2006 to 2015, Tirico served as a play-by-play an ...
as the channel's first
anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...
. In 1997, ESPN acquired the Classic Sports Network for $175 million from the channel's founders,
Brian Bedol Brian Bedol is an American television executive, entrepreneur, and founder of the sports television channels Classic Sports Network and College Sports Television. Bedol owned CSN from 1995 to 1997 and CSTV from 2003 to 2006. Bedol has since sold ...
and Steve Greenberg, and renamed it
ESPN Classic ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%). The channel was originally l ...
.
ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hears ...
, a network focusing exclusively on
collegiate sports College athletics encompasses non-professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games. World University Games The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the ''Union Nationale des ...
, was launched on March 4, 2005. ESPN made its expansion into video gaming by joining forces with game publisher
Sony Imagesoft Sony Imagesoft Inc. was an American video game publisher that operated from 1989 to 1995 and was located in California. It was established in January 1989 in Los Angeles, California, as a subsidiary of the Japan-based CBS/Sony Group (CSG) and in ...
for a series of video games in 1993. The venture was short-lived, only releasing fewer titles for the
SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...
,
Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...
and
Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan, ...
. In 1994, ESPN launched The ESPN Sports Poll, created by the
Chilton Company Chilton Company (AKA Chilton Printing Co., Chilton Publishing Co., Chilton Book Co. and Chilton Research Services) is a former publishing company, most famous for its trade magazines, and automotive manuals. It also provided conference and market ...
. The Sports Poll was the first ongoing national daily study of sports fan activities and interests in the United States. ''Sporting News'' acknowledged the accomplishments of The ESPN Sports Poll in 1996. Disney planned to start an ESPN West in late 1998, a
regional sports network In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region. ...
for the
Greater Los Angeles Area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
that would air live games of the Anaheim Angels and
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *''The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title *Th ...
, but the plan was abandoned. In 1999, ESPN joined forces with Konami and Disney Interactive for a series of video games called ESPN the Games, to replace the Konami XXL Sports Series branding, to release a series of titles for the
PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
,
Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...
,
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
,
Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...
,
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...
,
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...
,
GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...
and
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
. The venture ended in 2002, and joined forces with
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
. The venture made its full expansion when ESPN,
Visual Concepts Visual Concepts Entertainment is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. Founded in May 1988, the company is best known for developing Sports video game, sports games in the ''2K'' franchise, most recently ''NBA 2K'' and ' ...
and
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
teamed up to set up the ESPN Videogames to replace the Sega Sports label as part of the retooling of the ''2K'' game franchise. In 2005, just before the expiration of the ESPN-2K alliance, ESPN then signed up a 15-year agreement with
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
to allow ESPN personalities and presentations to appear on
EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...
games for the next 15 years. After Disney's acquisition of ESPN, ABC Sports began to increasingly integrate its operations with the network in 1996. That year Steve Bornstein, president of ESPN since 1990, was also made president of ABC Sports. This integration culminated in the 2006 decision to merge ABC Sports' operations with ESPN, which transitioned all ABC Sports telecasts to ESPN-styled productions and branding under the banner ''
ESPN on ABC ESPN on ABC (formerly known as ABC Sports from 1961 to 2006) is the branding used for sports event and documentary programming televised by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. Officially, the broadcast network retains ...
''. However, due to the nature of ESPN still being a joint venture between Disney and Hearst, ESPN on ABC is still legally separate from ESPN, since Hearst has no ownership interest in the ABC network. In 1998, ESPN also began utilizing a "
Skycam __NOTOC__ Skycam is a computer-controlled, stabilized, cable-suspended camera system. The system is maneuvered through three dimensions in the open space over a playing area of a stadium or arena by computer-controlled cable-drive system. It is r ...
" during its NHL broadcasts, later expanding its use to baseball, basketball and football games. In 2007, ESPN signed an agreement with the
Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
to broadcast at least one game every week, usually on Monday nights. In January 2008, ESPN signed a multimillion-dollar contract with professional gaming circuit,
Major League Gaming Major League Gaming Corp. (MLG) is a professional esports organization. MLG is headquartered in New York City, New York and was founded in 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso. MLG has held official video game tournaments throughout the ...
(MLG). In April 2009, ESPN opened a broadcast production facility in downtown
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
at the
L.A. Live L.A. Live is an entertainment complex in the South Park District of Downtown Los Angeles, California. It is adjacent to the Crypto.com Arena and Los Angeles Convention Center. L.A. Live was developed by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), Wach ...
complex, across from
Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...
. The five-story facility houses two television production studios with digital control rooms on the upper floors, and previously held an
ESPN Zone ESPN Zone was a theme restaurant and entertainment center chain in the United States that included arcades, TV studios, and radio studios, operated by the Disney Regional Entertainment subsidiary of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts using the Disne ...
restaurant on the first two floors until the restaurant's closure in 2013. One of the studios serves as the production and broadcast facilities for the late night editions of ''SportsCenter''.Greg Johnson
ESPN is on schedule to land in L.A. in 2009
''Los Angeles Times'', December 18, 2007.
In October 2009, ESPN marked its 30th anniversary with the premiere of ''
30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...
'', a series of documentaries focusing on major sports stories and events that occurred over the 30 years that the network had been on the air. While premiering to low ratings, awareness and critical reception of the series increased in later installments, leading to an increase in viewership. By the seventh episode, ''The U'', the audience had grown to a 1.8 rating and well over 2 million viewers. The most-watched program in the history of cable television was the
2011 BCS National Championship Game The 2011 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game was a college football bowl game to determine the national champion of the 2010 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season. The finale of the 2010–2011 Bowl Championship Series was p ...
, which aired on January 10, 2011, earning a 17.8 ratings share and an audience of 27.3 million viewers in 17.7 million homes.


International expansion

In the early 1990s, ESPN established a new division,
ESPN International ESPN International is a family of sportscasting and production networks around the world. It was begun in 1989, is operated by ESPN Inc. and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Operating regions Latin America Spanish-speaking countries * E ...
, to take advantage of the growing satellite markets in
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
,
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
. ESPN would also purchase a minority stake in a consortium known as NetStar Communications, which was formed to acquire the Canadian sports networks
TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...
and RDS from
Labatt Labatt Brewing Company Limited (french: La Brasserie Labatt Limitée) is a Belgian-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Int ...
; due to rules regarding the foreign ownership of television broadcasters in Canada, Labatt could no longer own TSN after its purchase by
Interbrew Interbrew is subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is based in Breda, Netherlands. It has one subsidiary, Ambev S.A. of São Paulo, Brazil. Brands Interbrew brands have historically included Budweiser, Stella Artois, Boddingtons, Beck's, Star ...
. After the majority stake of TSN/RDS was sold to CTV (which in turn was acquired by
Bell Globemedia Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
in 2011), TSN adopted an ESPN-styled logo, and rebranded its sports news program as '' SportsCentre'' (a
Canadian English Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the varieties of English native to Canada. According to the 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or 58.1% of the total population; the remainder spoke French ( ...
version of ''SportsCenter''). RDS, likewise, also adopted an ESPN-styled logo. Bell continues to own majority control and directly operate both TSN and RDS instead of ESPN because of the aforementioned Canadian rules on foreign ownership. In 2004, ESPN entered the European market by launching a version of
ESPN Classic ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%). The channel was originally l ...
, and then by acquiring the
North American Sports Network ESPN America was a British-based European sports network, focusing on professional and collegiate sports of the United States and Canada. Originally launched on 5 December 2002 as NASN (the ''North American Sports Network''), ESPN America broadca ...
(which was relaunched as ESPN America in February 2009). In August 2009, ESPN also launched a domestic channel for the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
after acquiring domestic rights to 46
Barclays Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
matches for the forthcoming season, and 23 matches each for the following three seasons. The deal replaced a previous contract with Setanta Sports GB, which was experiencing financial difficulties and bankruptcy.


2017 layoffs

On April 26, 2017, approximately 100 ESPN employees were notified that their position with the sports network had been terminated, among them athletes-turned-analysts
Trent Dilfer Trent Farris Dilfer (born March 13, 1972) is a former American football quarterback and analyst who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He is best known as the starting quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens during their Su ...
and
Danny Kanell Daniel Kanell (born November 21, 1973) is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Arena Football League who is currently employed by CBS Sports, along with Fox Sports 1 and SiriusXM. He wa ...
, and noted journalists like
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
beat reporter
Ed Werder Ed Werder (born May 3, 1960 in Longmont, Colorado) is an American sports reporter. He is the Dallas-based bureau reporter for ESPN, Werder is a reporter for the network's NFL coverage, and contributes to shows such as ''SportsCenter'', ''NFL Li ...
and
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
expert
Jayson Stark Jayson Stark (born July 19, 1951) is an American sportswriter and author who covers baseball for ''The Athletic''. He is most known for his time with ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' and ESPN. Biography Stark grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and ...
. The layoffs come as ESPN continues to shed viewers, more than 10 million over a period of several years, while forking over big money for the broadcast rights to such properties as the NFL,
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
and
College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...
. Further cost-cutting measures taken include moving the studio operations of ESPNU to Bristol from
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, reducing its longtime MLB studio show '' Baseball Tonight'' to Sundays as a lead-in to the primetime game and adding the
MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...
-produced ''
Intentional Talk ''Intentional Talk'' is an hour long (during the regular season) and a 30-minute-long (during the offseason) talk show shown live Monday-Friday at 4:00 ET (during the regular season) or at 3:30 ET (during the offseason) on MLB Network. Hosts S ...
'' to
ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...
's daily lineup.


2020–present

On March 11, 2020, the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
declared the
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
outbreak to be a
pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...
. This declaration, along with sporting leagues having their players test positive for the disease, resulted in cancellations to almost all traditional sporting events globally over the next few weeks in the most severe disruption to the sporting calendar since
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Due to these circumstances, ESPN announced that it would undergo major changes to its programming schedule, opting to show replays of classic sporting events, sports documentaries, and expanded news programs. After having last carried national-televised NHL games in 2004, ESPN and ABC agreed on a seven-year contract (agreed on March 10, 2021) to televise games, and will also air some games on ESPN+ and
Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
. The contract also stated that ABC will exclusively air four of the seven Stanley Cup Finals, marking the first time that the entirety of the Finals would air on broadcast television exclusively since
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...
. A week later, ESPN and the NFL agreed on a landmark ten-year contract (agreed on March 18, 2021) to continue televising Monday Night Football, and will also air games on ABC and ESPN+. Terms of this deal include: expanding the MNF schedule to 23 games, but ESPN will phase it into three steps. The schedule will expand from 17 games to 19 games in 2021, the last year of ESPN’s current eight-year agreement, to include two games during the final week of the season, as part of a new Saturday doubleheader to kick off the new Week 18 (both will have playoff implications and will be simulcast on ESPN and ABC). In 2022, which will be a bridge agreement year, the schedule expands to 21 games, to include two more exclusive games, one on ABC, the first one since 2005, and one on ESPN+, which will be an
International game The International game ( ca-valencia, joc internacional, ) is a ball game that is related to many sports derived from and similar to Jeu de paume. It is played in the Handball International Championships by teams from the Americas and Europe. Hi ...
. Then in 2023, the first of the new ten-year agreement, two more games, both on ABC exclusively, will be added, to make the schedule 23 games. Other major terms include: continued rights for ESPN and ABC to air both the Pro Bowl and NFL Draft, flex scheduling rights from Week 12 on, typically used by the NFL’s other broadcast partners: CBS, Fox, NBC, and NFL Network, a Divisional playoff game, and the rights for ABC to air Super Bowls LXI and LXV, the first Super Bowls under the Disney/ESPN-NFL agreement, and ABC’s first Super Bowls since
Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...
. ESPN also was allowed the rights to produce alternate broadcasts for select games. ESPN took advantage of this by teaming with Omaha Productions to produce the
Manningcast ''Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli'', colloquially known as the ''Manningcast'', is an alternate live television broadcast of ''Monday Night Football'' hosted by Manning family, brothers Peyton Manning, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is produ ...
, a ten-game alternate broadcast series hosted by Peyton and
Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the youngest son o ...
. ESPN later signed a five-year deal to be the home of the new Monday Night Super Wild Card Game, which included the Manningcast.


Criticism

Despite its acclaim and notability, ESPN and its sister networks have been the targets of criticism for some of its programming. This criticism includes accusations of biased coverage, conflict of interest, and controversies about individual broadcasters and analysts' backgrounds and character.


References


Bibliography

* {{ESPN ESPN History of The Walt Disney Company
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...