 | |
 ESPN's headquarters inBristol, Connecticut. | |
| Company type | Joint venture |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports broadcasting |
| Founded | September 7, 1979; 45 years ago (1979-09-07) |
| Founder | Bill Rasmussen |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | James Pitaro (chairman) |
| Owners |
|
Number of employees | 9464 (2024) |
| Website | espn.com |
ESPN Inc. is an Americanmultinational sportsmedia conglomerate majority-owned bythe Walt Disney Company, withHearst Communications as an equity stakeholder.[1] Founded byBill Rasmussen in 1979, itowns and operates local and globalcable andsatellite television variants ofESPN,ESPN2,ESPN Radio,ESPN.com,ESPN+ and other related ventures and is currently headed by executiveJames Pitaro.[2][3][4] Commonly and colloquially marketed as the "Worldwide Leader in Sports", programming on its television networks includebroadcasts of live or tape-delayed sporting events and sports-related programming including talk shows andoriginal documentary series and films.[5]
ESPN Inc. was founded in 1979 byBill Rasmussen, initially as an attempt to broadcastsports in Connecticut over an "Entertainment and Sports Programming Network" (ESPN) cable channel, and soon became a nationwide cable sports network. Shortly after being terminated as theWorld Hockey Association'sNew England Whalers communications director in 1978, Rasmussen conceived of a plan to produce Connecticut sports events for Connecticut cable systems.[6] With his son, Scott, they had moved beyond that, considering a national sports channel doable.[6]RCA had an underused satellite and was pushing for customers. Finding it cheaper by the hour to rent a satellite transponder full-time, instead of 5 hours a day, the Rasmussens changed their plans from creating a Connecticut sports channel to creating a national cable network.[7]
On February 7, 1979, Bill Rasmussen got theNCAA to agree, in principle, to grant ESPN broadcast rights for NCAA sports. The next day at the Texas Cable Show exposition, he was able to get cable companies on board. An advertising contract withAnheuser-Busch was in talks at that time, andGetty Oil came on board as its major source of capital. In 1979, Rasmussen purchased the first acre of land for ESPN's headquarters inBristol, Connecticut.[6] With a reasonable payment plan in July 1979, Rasmussen leased RCA's Satcom 1 transponder using his credit card. Anheuser-Busch became a major sponsor, signing a $1.4 million ad contract, a record at the time. Getty Oil invested $10 million into ESPN getting a controlling stake in 1979.[7]
On September 7, 1979, the ESPN cable channel went on the air,[6] with 24 hours of programming on the weekends and limited hours during the week. 625 cable system affiliates were signed up at launch and they had one million household subscribed total (out of 20 million households with cable). The channel's first game featured theMilwaukee Schlitz and theKentucky Bourbons in the deciding game of the championship series of theAmerican Professional Slo-Pitch League.[7]
In 1980, the company was named in a Texas divorce filing. Groundbreaking for its headquarters took place one year earlier.[6] Full-time broadcasting began in September 1980. Additional programming at the time included weekly boxing matches.[7]
NBC Sports President Chet Simmons was hired to help run the cable channel. Simmons and Rasmussen were at odds with Getty Oil executives siding with Simmons. At the end of 1980, Rasmussen was removed as company president by Getty Oil executive for ESPN, Stuart Evey, relegating him to a ceremonial role. Rasmussen left in 1981 and sold his remaining stock in 1984.[6]
Investing another $15 million into the company and no profits expected any time soon, Getty used management consultant McKinsey & Co. to assess ESPN's future. McKinsey's lead consultant was Roger Werner, who figured with another $120 million and five years ESPN would become a profit maker. Werner soon was hired by ESPN as vice-president of finance, administration, and planning and developed a new business plan. Werner developed a new revenue source beyond advertising by initiating revolutionary affiliate fees paid by the cable operators by number of subscribers starting at 6 cents. Between CBS Cable folding in October 1982 and the new CEO, Bill Grimes, they convinced most of the reluctant cable providers to pay. By 1985, the fee was 10 cents.[7]
ESPN was the largest cable channel by the end of 1983 with 28.5 million households. Also in 1983, the company began distributing programming outside the United States. In 1984, the U.S.ABC television network purchased a controlling stake in the company. ABC later merged withCapital Cities Communications, and the combined company was purchased byThe Walt Disney Company in 1995.[8][7] In 1988, Roger Werner became the network's president and CEO.
ESPN started out expanding into other nations and additional channels. TheESPN International unit was formed in 1988 to start channels in other nations beginning withESPN Latin America in 1989. In 1992, ESPN Asia was launched. ESPN partnered withTF1 andCanal+ for a made overEurosport to enter Europe.[7]
RJR Nabisco sold its 20% stake in ESPN to theHearst Corporation. Werner resigned as CEO and president in October 1990 for another sports CEO job.[9]Steve Bornstein replaced him in the CEO post moving up from the second position of executive vice-president in charge of programming and production.[7]
WithABC Radio Network, the company started theESPN Radio Network in 1991 with programming 16 hours per week. Ohlmeyer Communications' sports programming division was purchased in March 1993.[7] ESPN launchedESPN2 on October 1, 1993 at 7:30 PM. The channel at the time was targeting those age 18-34.[10] In 1994, ESPN acquired Creative Sports[11] and from Dow Jones an 80% stake in SportsTicker.[7]
In 1997, ESPN acquired theClassic Sports Network.[12]
In 2006, ESPN acquired the North American Sports Network (NASN). It was re-branded asESPN America on February 1, 2009.[13][14]
In February 2016, ESPN and Tencent reached an agreement of collaboration. ESPN's content would be localized and exclusively distributed and promoted by Tencent's digital platforms in China, including college basketball games, the X Games and an ESPN section on QQ.com.[15] In August 2016, Disney purchased a 1/3 stake inBAMTech for $1 billion fromMLB Advanced Media with the option to purchase a majority share, which it later exercised, and now owns 85%. Disney purchased the stake to first develop an ESPN-branded subscription streaming service, later namedESPN+.[16]
In July 2023, it was reported that Disney was contemplating selling an equity stake in ESPN to an outside partner, as part of a future expansion of its streaming business to include ESPN's linear networks.[17]
On August 8, 2023,Penn Entertainment announced a $2 billion agreement with ESPN to rebrand itsBarstool Sportsbooksports betting services as ESPN Bet. As part of the agreement, ESPN will receive $1.5 billion in cash over 10 years, and will take $500 million in Penn stock.[18][19]
On February 6, 2024, ESPN announced a joint venture withFox Sports andTNT Sports to launch a sports streaming service calledVenu Sports, offering the three organizations' main linear sports channels and associated media rights, beginning in fall 2024.[20] The service was ultimately cancelled.
The company plans to launch a "flagship" standalone streaming offering, including the ESPN and ESPN2 linear channels, in late summer or fall 2025.[21]
ESPN also supplies content to theDisney+ subscription streaming service in the US and Latin America ESPN brand hub tile (2023–present).
Under theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's rules regarding foreign broadcasters, ESPN has been prohibited from acquiring majority ownership of any channel operating in Canada. Instead, ESPN partnered with several Canadian firms to form a privately held consortium named NetStar Communications in 1995, which then acquired the sports networksTSN andRDS. These Canadian partners then sold their shares in 2001 to CTV Inc. (nowBell Media). ESPN continues to own 20 percent of what is nowCTV Specialty Television while Bell Media owns the remaining 80 percent.[24]
The sports channels owned by the CTV Specialty Television subsidiary:
Through CTV Specialty Television, ESPN also has an indirect interest in several channels operated in partnership withWarner Bros. Discovery, but ESPN is not believed to be directly involved with these operations. Those channels are to be rebranded and replaced in 2025 with the loss of the Warner Bros. Discovery brands toRogers Sports & Media.
ESPN entered the United Kingdom in 2006 when pan-EuropeanESPN Classic was added toSky Digital.[25]
In December 2006, theNorth American Sports Network, which operated as a joint-venture betweenBenchmark Capital Europe andSetanta Sports announced the sale of the channel to ESPN for €70 million.[13] The sale's closure in March 2007 added NASN to the ESPN family, although it remained as part of the Setanta Sports Pack onsatellite television.[26][27] On October 2, 2008, it was announced that NASN would rebrand as ESPN America.[14] The rebranding took place on February 1, 2009, to coincide withSuper Bowl XLIII.[13][14]
On June 19, 2009 it was announced that Setanta Sports UK had lost their local rights package to half of the UKPremier League matches, with ESPN as one of the interested parties to acquire the rights.[28] On June 22, 2009, a day before Setanta UK collapsed into administration, ESPN announced they had snapped up the rights from the 2009–10 season to the 2012–13 season, and would launch their owndomestic channel.[29] ESPN UK launched in August 2009, forming as part of a new TV package with America and Classic, by acquiring much of the ex-Setanta slots.
By 2012, the network had begun to lose many of its key sports rights, including the Premier League, toBT Group.[30][31][32] On January 25, 2013, ESPN reached a deal to sell its television business in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including ESPN America's programming rights, toBT Group. The ESPN channel in the United Kingdom was placed under the control ofBT Sport, whileESPN Classic and ESPN America shut down. ESPN continues to operate digital properties targeting the United Kingdom, including its ESPN.co.uk,ESPN FC,ESPNcricinfo, and ESPNscrum websites.[33] Two years later, ESPN reached a long-term deal with BT Sport for the British rights to ESPN original programming and international event rights.[34]
The main ESPN network following the BT purchase transitioned to airing North American Sports programming, and in June 2015 was renamed BT Sport ESPN. On May 11, 2022, BT announced that the BT Sport networks would form as part of a new joint venture with Disney rivalWarner Bros. Discovery and to merge with their existingEurosport networks at a later date.[35][36][37] Due to this, ESPN decided not to renew their name licensing deal with BT, and on 1 August 2022, the channel was renamed BT Sport 4, although it continues to mainly focus on North American sports.[38]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
.svg){kind=logo}
