Tag Archives: sports television history

  • Teaser Tag: Entertainment Economy
2001-Today

“Basketball Dollars”
NCAA-History

Logo for the 2009 NCAA ‘Final Four’ basketball championship, played in Detroit, Michigan.
Logo for the 2009 NCAA ‘Final Four’ basketball championship, played in Detroit, Michigan.
     A front-page story in the Washington Post that ran a few days before the April 2009 “final four” championship NCAA basketball games, focused on the big money that would be flowing into Detroit’s local economy because of the tournament.  And indeed, organizers of the event estimated that between $30 million and $40 million would come to the host city.  More than 100,000 people were expected to come to Detroit for the event, described by the Post as “the most lavish celebration in college sports.”   On April 4, 2009, the first two games were played at Detroit’s  Ford Field stadium, and for the first time in tournament history, an NCAA attendance record was set, with some 72,000 fans attending.

     The Post story — headlined: “Desperate For a Rebound, Detroit Turns to Basketball”  — contrasted the good times for the NCAA with the hard times in Detroit and Michigan, epitomized by the current declining economic fortunes of Detroit’s automakers. NCAA basketball is just one part of what appears to be a rapidly growing “entertainment economy.”  But perhaps there is also a broader message to spotlight here:  the rise of the “media and entertainment” sectors of America’s economy in recent years versus the declining manufacturing sector.

     Manufacturing, obviously, is vital for sustaining any national economy, and Americans would like to see nothing better than a solid manufacturing come-back in the Midwest and elsewhere in the months ahead.  Still, in recent decades, the sports, media, and entertainment portions of the American economy have been exploding in value and growth.  NCAA basketball is just one part of that — part of what some have called in recent years, “the entertainment economy.”  Whether this “new economy” is as desirable as the old industrial variety is another question, certainly, but it is occurring nonetheless.

     Sports in general have become a rising and significant part of the U.S. media/entertainment sector.   In 1960, for example, there were 42 professional sports franchises, mostly in the northeastern U.S.  By 2000,there were more than 110 franchises, and they were spread over more regions of the country.  The media, meanwhile, have loomed powerfully over this growth.  Since 1980s the annual number of hours of sports programming aired by major broadcast networks and cable systems has more than doubled, rising to 10,000 hours in 2000.  The increasing economic value of sports broadcast and cable rights have attracted media and entertainment companies as sports franchise investors, as well as wealthy individuals.  And “big event” playoff games and the like, draw lots of attention from would-be host cities.

Ford Field in Detroit played host to more than 72,000 fans for the Final Four NCAA basketball games of early April 2009.
Ford Field in Detroit played host to more than 72,000 fans for the Final Four NCAA basketball games of early April 2009.
     “The Super Bowl, Olympic Games, all star games, and league play-offs for the four major professional sports leagues, and the [NCAA basketball] tournament, qualify as sports mega-events in the United States,” observe analysts Robert A Baade and Victor A Matheson.  “Convinced that these sports events produce substantial incremental economic activity, cities compete as vigorously to host them as do the athletes who participate in the events…”

     In April 2009, CNN.com reported a story headlined: “Hawaii Looks to Sports for Economic Boost,” explaining how the NFL Pro Bowl game  — featuring all-star professional football players in an end-of-season contest — has been an important contributor to the state’s economy for more than 20 years.   The game had been played in Honolulu at Aloha Stadium every year since 1980, and it sold out every time.  Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann explained that the tens of thousands of people who came to that game every year spent “at least $30 million” across the state.  Honolulu lost the game to Florida recently, but Mayor Hannemann is optimistic about getting it back in 2011 and 2012.  Hannemann also co-chairs the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Olympic Task Force, which is hoping to bring the Olympics to Chicago in 2016.  Hawaii could benefit from that as well, becoming a stopping off point for visiting fans and participating teams on their way to Chicago.  Sports, it seems, is an important part of Hawaii’s economic planning.


1979 NCAA championship players Magic Johnson of Michigan State, left, and Larry Bird of Indiana, right.
1979 NCAA championship players Magic Johnson of Michigan State, left, and Larry Bird of Indiana, right.
NCAA Basketball

     NCAA basketball, a part of the larger sports universe, has become its own big business.  But this has happened in a relatively short space of time, with broadcast and cable television serving as a powerful handmaidens.  NBC telecast the championship NCAA game over its network for the first time in 1969, continuing to do so through the 1970s.  There was no cable television then.

     By 1979, however, there came Bill Rasmussen, founder of ESPN, an “all sports” cable TV network.  Rasmussen had rounded up broadcasting rights for tape-delayed NCAA basketball games as part of what he was then building.  There was little TV coverage then of the games leading up to the NCAA finals.  It also happened about that time that fan interest in college basketball was ignited by two young rival players named Magic Johnson and Larry Bird who battled each other in the NCAA finals. 

CBS' ad revenues.
CBS' ad revenues.
     In March 1979 when Bird and Johnson played in the championship game, more than 35 percent of the TV sets turned on were tuned to that game.  That type of TV audience share is not possible in today’s market, but it did show the way to the gold mine in NCAA basketball broadcasting.  ESPN, meanwhile, was soon broadcasting 14 of 32 first-round games, and often showed the most competitive games, gaining national appeal.  The NCAA tournament was boosted considerably by ESPN’s tournament coverage.

     In 1979, the NCAA tournament had a 40-team field.  It was expanded twice over the next six years, to 48 teams in 1980 and 64 teams in 1985.  The TV rights fees were $5.2 million in 1979.  They doubled in 1980.  By 1982, when CBS outbid NBC for the tournament, the price went to $48 million.  In 1985, they doubled again to $96 million.  By 1994 CBS paid $1.73 billion for NCAA games through the year 2002.  The current package through the year 2011 cost CBS $6.2 billion.  But CBS appears to be getting some of that back in ad revenues, both from conventional broadcast and the internet (see graphic).

     The televised play of the Final Four NCAA basketball tournament, of course, is only part of the NCAA tournament’s overall economic effect.  And basketball is only one of many NCAA sports with championship events, with various college conferences and leagues participating as well.  Advertisers from Nike to Chevrolet have been attaching themselves to NCAA sports, and in some cases, individual players, for some time now.  On March 10, 2009, for example, Nike announced it would outfit the players of five NCAA teams  for tournament play — Duke, Gonzaga, Memphis, Michigan State, and the University of Oregon.  Nike would equip the players head-to-toe with a  ‘360’  treatment, providing “base-layer apparel, unique uniforms, and customized footwear”.  Pontiac, Coca-Cola, AT&T meanwhile, were among prominent Final Four advertisers.

One of a myriad of NCAA video games available for a number of college sports.
One of a myriad of NCAA video games available for a number of college sports.
     The NCAA itself is a major business, sharing its revenue with the leagues and schools in some sports.  One only need visit the NCAA.com website to get an idea of the business side of college sports these days and how college sports have become a powerful force in the national economy.  As USA Today has recently reported, individual univer- sities are also striking their own sports deals.  The University of Maryland now plays football at the Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium as part of its 25-year, $20 million naming-rights deal with the bank.  The money also helped finance new luxury suites and other upgrades at the Maryland football stadium.  The University of Kansas basketball team recently dropped former sponsor Nike and went with Adidas in a new apparel contract.  An eight-year, $26.67 million deal with the athletic company, among other things, places the Adidas three-stripe logo on UK’s basketball jerseys.  The University of Texas is exploring its own TV network to fill a statewide cable channel and various internet outlets to broadcast University of Texas football, basketball, and other sports. In fact, since early 2007, at least 37 schools have guaranteed themselves a combined $1.7 billion in fees by bundling and selling multimedia rights.


The Bigger Picture

     College sports, of course, are only a sliver of the great American sports pie, and the U.S., only one part of the larger global sports scene. But adding up only the “sports parts” of the media/ entertainment/advertiser juggernaut that is now found globally — Media & entertainment now contribute well north of $500 billion annually to the global economy, and some analysts expect that an even more powerful sports/entertainment component will emerge in the decades ahead. whether World Cup Soccer, Indian cricket, Olympic events, tournament golf and tennis, NASCAR racing and more — plus the prospect of NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball expansion abroad in the future, and one can get an idea of the shift that is occurring in national and global economies. And sports, of course, are only one part of the bigger media/ entertainment engine. There is Hollywood and Bollywood, the music industry, television and radio, Broadway and the West End, the internet, video games, hand-held entertainment, related software/ hardware, and much more.  These are all economic powers within the media/entertainment equation. They now contribute well north of $500 billion annually to the global economy, and some analysts expect that an even more powerful sports/media/entertainment component will emerge in the decades ahead, current economic difficulties notwithstanding. NCAA basketball, and its elevation in recent decades to mega-sport event status, illustrates how modern societies are incorporating media, sports, and entertainment elements as increasingly important economic contributors.

     Stay tuned to this website for future stories on these and related topics. Other stories at this site on entertainment economics and its history include: “Disney Dollars, 1930s” and “All Sports, All the Time, 1978-2008,” about the rise of ESPN. For additional sports stories see the “Annals of Sport” category page. Thanks for visiting — and if you like what you find here, please make a donation to help support the research and writing at this website. Thank you. — Jack Doyle

Please Support
this Website

Donate Now

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Date Posted:  5 April 2009
Last Update:  22 March 2019
Comments to:  jdoyle@pophistorydig.com

Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “Basketball Dollars, NCAA History,”
PopHistoryDig.com, April 5, 2009.

_____________________________



Sources, Links & Additional Information

2017 book, “Unwinding Madness: What Went Wrong with College Sports and How to Fix It,” Brooking Institution, 320pp.
2017 book, “Unwinding Madness: What Went Wrong with College Sports and How to Fix It,” Brooking Institution, 320pp.

Liz Clarke, “Desperate for a Rebound, Detroit Turns to Basketball; Local Officials, NCAA Organizers Hope Final Four Provides Lasting Boost to Struggling City, Washington Post, Thursday, April 2, 2009, p. A-1.

Harold L. Vogel, Entertainment Industry Economics: A Guide for Financial Analysis, Boston: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Michael Wilbon, “30 Years Ago, Madness Tipped Off,” Washington Post, Thursday, March 26, 2009, p. E-1.

Robert A Baade and Victor A Matheson, “An Economic Slam Dunk or March Madness? Assessing the Economic Impact of the NCAA Basetball Tournament,” in John Fizel and Rodney D. Fort, Eds, Economics of College Sports, Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2004, pp. 111-134.

John Fizel and Rodney D. Fort, Eds, Economics of College Sports, Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2004.

Business Wire, “Nike Outfits NCAA Basketball Teams for Battle with Innovative Uniform System,” March 10, 2009.

“NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship,” Wikipedia.org.

“2009 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament,” Wikipedia.org.

Steve Wieberg & Steve Berkowitz, “NCAA, Colleges Pushing the Envelope With Sports Marketing,” USA Today, April 1, 2009.

Eric Benderoff, “NCAA Tournament: CBS Winning in The Online-Revenue Bracket,” Chicago Tribune. com, March 19, 2009

“NCAA, Member Schools Continue To Work More Like A Business,”SportsBusinessDaily.com, April 2, 2009.

Bloomberg, “CBS Says Internet Ad Revenue for NCAA Tournament May Rise 30%,” March 10, 2009.

Mad City dvdrip

Seth Davis, When March Went Mad: The Game That Transformed Basketball, St. Martin’s Press, 2009.





  • Teaser Tag: Sports & Media
1971-1980, 1981-1990, 1991-2000, 2001-Today

“All Sports, All The Time”
1978-2008

The familiar logo of ESPN, the sports cable TV network.
The familiar logo of ESPN, the sports cable TV network.
      In July 1978, Bill Rasmussen of Bristol, Connecticut, a former sportscaster and recently fired communications man for the New England Whalers ice hockey team, came up with the idea of creating a regional sports TV network.  Rasmussen had already been thinking about how to syndicate the Whalers ice hockey games and University of Connecticut basketball on the state’s cable systems.  Cable television then was still in its infancy.  CNN, MTV, HBO or anything approaching a major cable system had yet to emerge nationally.  Rasmussen and his son, Scott, a former sports announcer, met with an RCA salesman inquiring about the cost of channel space on a new communications satellite.  In 1978, an all-sports cable network was hardly a “no brainer.” The three TV networks combined then broadcast only about 20 hours of sports a week.They learned that it was cheaper to buy round-the-clock time than individual blocks of several hours.  But then, the big question became how to use all that time?  On a road trip by car to New Jersey in August 1978, Rasmussesn and his son argued about what to do.  That’s when they hit upon the idea of “all sports all the time”– offering continuous sports programming over cable around the clock.  This plan was hardly a “no brainer” at the time, especially since even the three major TV networks combined only broadcast about 20 hours of sports a week.  Still, a Wall Street Journal article that Rasmussen had read pointed up the groundswell and potential in the new cable TV business, and he suspected that he might be on to something.  Yet finding the content, the financing, and the help needed to undertake such a venture would be formidable.  The next several months were spent organizing, doing paperwork, and seeking sponsors.

     After being turned down by a half a dozen or more potential investors, Rasmussen met Stu Evey an executive vice president at Getty Oil who managed a variety of projects for the oil company.  Evey used Getty’s financial experts to analyze the market and evaluate what might result from investing in the new venture.  In February 1979, Getty initially agreed to put up $43,000 for an option to buy 85 percent of the new cable sports network.  Millions more in Getty dollars would follow.Sports Illustrated called ESPN “one of the strangest creations in the history of mass communications.”  Stu Evey would become ESPN’s first chairman and would later write a book about the experience (see below).  On September 7, 1979, a Saturday evening at 7 p.m., the “Entertainment Sports Programming Network” launched its first program as a regional sports cable channel.  It began with a show called “Sports Center.”  A few weeks later RCA awarded Rasmussen the satellite space for 24-hour programming.  ESPN was on its way, for good or ill.  The first few years entailed a hodge-podge of programming — slow-pitch softball, kick boxing, racquetball, volleyball, karate, Australian Rules football, Irish hurling, tractor pulls, and other arcane sports. Broadcasting through the weekends and a few hours each weekday, the station lost millions of dollars.  Sports Illustrated called it “one of the strangest creations in the history of mass communications.”  Still, ESPN had the industry’s attention.

 

NCAA Basketball

Former Getty Oil v.p. Stu Evey's 2004 book on the making of ESPN. Click for copy.
Former Getty Oil v.p. Stu Evey's 2004 book on the making of ESPN. Click for copy.
      Early on, Rasmussen had also rounded up broadcasting rights for University of Connecticut sports events, and later other National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) games, including tape-delayed college football games and NCAA basketball games.  In 1979, fan interest in college basketball had been ignited by two young rival players named Magic Johnson and Larry Bird who battled each other in the 1979 NCAA finals.  In 1979, fan interest in college basketball had been ignited by two young rival players named Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.However, there was little TV coverage of the games leading up to the NCAA finals until ESPN stepped in with live and tape-delay coverage.  Those games proved a big boost to ESPN’s growing following.  Gradually, executives and sportscasters were lured from some of the other networks and a handful of anchors became regulars — among them, Chris Berman, Tom Mees, Bob Ley, and Dick Vitale.  Rasmussen, meanwhile, became less involved as the network grew more corporate, staying on the board of directors through 1981 but later cashing out.

     In August 1982, ABC television agreed to supply some programming to ESPN in exchange for an option to purchase up to 49 percent of the company. ESPN meanwhile, began more coverage of college football in 1982, and a year later began its first professional sports broadcasting with the games of the fledgling United States Football League (USFL). The USFL coverage lasted three years and also included some programming outside of the U.S. ESPN also made a major business change in 1983 by beginning to charge cable companies — rather than paying them — for carrying its programming. Even though this only resulted in pennies per subscriber per year, it nonetheless marked a turning point toward profitability. Still, ESPN was operating in the red but it was now reaching more than 23 million households.

 

ABC & Cap Cities

In 1984, ABC shelled out more than $225 million to acquire ESPN.
In 1984, ABC shelled out more than $225 million to acquire ESPN.
      In January 1984, as a result of its earlier programming deal requiring ABC to purchase at least 10 percent of ESPN, ABC acquired 15 percent of ESPN for $25 million, with the right to purchase more in the future. It also turned out that ESPN’s majority owner, Getty, was itself in play, and was sold to Texaco. ABC then shelled out $202 million to Texaco in April 1984 to buy the remaining shares of ESPN. ABC then sold off a 20 percent piece of ESPN to raise cash, a share later owned by the Hearst Corporation. ABC by this time was itself quite prominent in sports broadcasting, having among other things, Monday Night Football, extensive Olympic coverage, and college football coverage under the leadership of Roone Arledge. With ABC as owner, ESPN continued to grow, adding National Hockey League games in 1985. Then in 1986, another change in ownership occurred when Capital Cities Communication, a large broadcasting group, acquired ABC for $3.5 billion. Still, under Cap Cities, both ABC and ESPN continued their growth in sports broadcasting. In November 1987, ESPN began its Sunday Night Football program featuring NFL games. This marked a major development in cable’s arrival as significant player in sports programming. Two years later, ESPN signed a $400 million deal with Major League Baseball.

In 1990, The Wall Street Journal ranked ESPN # 1 on cable, ahead of CNN & MTV, with 54.8 million subscribers. By the early 1990s, the cable TV revolution was in full flower with CNN, MTV, and other major networks. And in the new industry, ESPN was found among the top players. A Wall Street Journal ranking of the major cable operators in 1990 placed ESPN at #1 with 54.8 million subscribers, ahead of #2 CNN with 53.8 million, and #6 MTV with 49.3 million. ESPN was still growing. In March 1992 ESPN’s international division acquired 50 percent of the European Sports Network. At home, ESPN Sports Radio was also launched in 1992 and a second TV channel, ESPN-2, debuted in October 1993 beginning a focus on sports such as soccer, in-line skating, and mountain biking. In early May 1994, ESPN acquired Creative Sports a TV/radio sports marketing, syndication, and production company which was later renamed ESPN Regional Television. In January 1995, ESPN distributed the Super Bowl game to television outlets in more than 100 countries. Then came Disney.

 

Disney Takes Over

     In August 1995, the Walt Disney Company, one of the world’s largest entertainment corporations, announced it would acquire Cap Cities/ABC for $19 billion. The deal stunned Wall Street and the entertainment industry. But one of the assets Disney was most pleased about getting in the deal was ESPN. At the time, Disnsey’s chairman Michael Eisner called ESPN “a magic name,” comparable to Coca-Cola or Kodak in brand recognition. The all-sports network by then was seen in 66.3 million American households and 95 million around the world. ESPN had already become a booming profit center for ABC. “The channel has been our biggest growth area on a percentage basis over the past five years,” said Robert A. Iger, ABC’s president in August 1995. Disney’s Michael Eisner called ESPN “a magic name,” comparable to Coca-Cola or Kodak in brand recognition. Media analysts were then projecting good days ahead. ESPN and ESPN-2 were slated to generate cash flow of $350 million in 1995 and $400 million in 1996, making it the most profitable of all cable TV services. ESPN was then worth between $4 billion and $5 billion. Everywhere that Disney CEO Michael Eisner went in New York that August touting the deal — from newspaper and radio interviews to Larry King Live — he couldn’t say enough about ESPN. He also saw the possibility of “brand build-out” just as Disney had done with its own products. “We know that when we lay Mickey Mouse or Goofy on top of products, we get pretty creative stuff,” Eisner said. “ESPN has the potential to be that kind of brand. ABC has never had our resources, and we haven’t had ESPN. Put the two together and who knows what we get.” ESPN’s sports fare was also unique in its live coverage aspects, marketable most anywhere in the world.

     ABC and Disney executives had already concluded that the most exportable forms of TV entertainment were sports and children’s programming because they have universal appeal and offend no political position. “But the leverage of those two together in what used to be third world countries, or closed countries, is enormous,” explained Eisner in August 1995. The most “exportable” forms of TV entertain- ment, it was thought, were sports and children’s programming because they had universal appeal and offended no political position. “There are 250 million people in the middle-class of India alone…” Disney also liked ESPN’s aggressive marketing of its sports news and information around the world, from Latin America and Europe to Asia and Australia, seeing additional potential for cable and satellite-delivered, locally popular sports like cricket in India or table tennis in China. “We think sports is a good inter-national language,” said Steven Bornstein, ESPN’s president. Disney technology could then transmit a single channel into every corner of the globe, and was looking for more new and distinct programming to telecast and incorporate into its stores and theme parks.

 

1997: ESPN Classic begins.
1997: ESPN Classic begins.
      Under Disney’s umbrella, ESPN continued to grow in new ways, including acquisitions. In early October 1997, ESPN acquired Classic Sports Network, a 24-hour, all-sports network that had taken form in the Midwest, since renamed ESPN Classic. This channel initially focused on older, “classic” sporting events and sports stars from the past, and developed a loyal following. Meanwhile, for the year 1997, ESPN registered solid growth and was more profitable than NBC. Disney continued helping ESPN extend its brand with ESPN stores and ESPN-themed products. Prior to the Disney acquisition, one of
'ESPN Zone' restaurant & enter-tainment center at 1472 Broadway in New York.
'ESPN Zone' restaurant & enter-tainment center at 1472 Broadway in New York.
the first ESPN restaurants had already been planned for Disney’s Boardwalk at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Disney would subsequently help ESPN build more “ESPN Zone” restaurants, some with expanded entertainment centers. There are now at least eight of these restaurant and entertainment centers in the U.S. — Anaheim, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, New York, and Washington — each complete with gaming rooms, big-screen TVs, and hundreds of smaller TV throughout, broadcasting ESPN fare and other programs.

     In 1998, ESPN The Magazine was launched, and has since become a serious competitor to Time, Inc.’s Sports Illustrated with nearly 2 million subscribers. In 2001, the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society was acquired and became the basis for more than two dozen ESPN Bass tournament and fishing shows. In 2002, ESPN and ABC acquired television broadcasting rights for National Basketball Association (NBA) games. But football continued to be a mother lode for ESPN. In 2005, when ESPN paid $1.1 billion for the rights to Monday Night Football, some business analysts thought the network paid a too rich a price. But by the end of 2006 it was clear that ESPN had captured a worthy share of households and cable viewers — averaging in the 10-to 12-million range — and producing the largest household audiences of the year for at least 16 consecutive weeks. But still more contracts were on the way.

European soccer, 2006.
European soccer, 2006.
      In December 2006, ESPN and ABC landed rights for the European Soccer Championships, most carried on ESPN outlets, along with Spanish language rights for ESPN’s Deportes network and pay TV in Latin America. For the year 2006, Disney reported that ESPN delivered double-digit growth for company, both in revenue and operating profit. Its ratings overall were also up. During 2006, in fact, more people watched ESPN’s four U.S. cable channels than ever before. And Disney fully expected the trend to continue, especially with the addition of ESPN-hosted NASCAR auto-racing, America’s fastest growing spectator sport.

ESPN, The Magazine, August 2006.
ESPN, The Magazine, August 2006.
      Today, ESPN is a giant global sports broadcasting and marketing behemoth worth billions of dollars. In December 2006, investment bank UBS announced at a New York conference that they had determined ESPN’s value to be $28 billion, accounting for about 40 percent of Disney’s $70.7 billion market capitalization.In 2006, UBS determined ESPN to account for about 40% of Disney’s market cap. In addition to its four U.S. television networks –ESPN, ESPN-2, ESPN Classic & ESP NEWS — it also has 24 ESPN inter-national networks that broadcast in eleven languages. ESPN also operates a dedicated college sports TV channel, various internet websites, video games, CDs and DVDs, holds a number of mobile-media content deals, and more.

* * * * * * * *

     A summary of some of ESPN’s more prominent parts (as of April 2008) and its ever-growing empire follows below:

Travis Vogan's 2015 book, "ESPN: The Making of a Sports Media Empire," University of Illinois, 256pp. Click for copy.
Travis Vogan's 2015 book, "ESPN: The Making of a Sports Media Empire," University of Illinois, 256pp. Click for copy.

ESPN
The flagship network, ESPN, is now seen in 94 million households with programming that inlcudes coverage of more than 65 sports including MLB, NBA, NFL’s Monday Night Football, NASCAR, FIFA World Cup, WNBA, college football, men’s and women’s college basketball, golf, Little League World Series, and the X Games. ESPN Original Entertainment creates branded program-ming outside of ESPN’s normal fare, and ESPN on Demand offers sports and other exclusive content from ESPN and outside sources.

ESPN-2
ESPN-2 is now seen in over 93 million households. Its programming features NASCAR racing, MLB, college football and basketball, golf, tennis, FIFA World Cup, MLS, and more. It also offers “Cold Pizza,” a two-hour morning show that combines sports with pop culture and “lifestyle features.”

ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic is available in over 63 million homes. Its programming focuses on sports history, and “classic” games, personalities, and stories from the world of sports, such as shows from the ESPN Big Fights Library. Its documentaries and programming have won Emmy and Peabody Awards, such as for its “SportsCentury” show. Its coverage generally relates to all the major professional sports plus college football and basketball.

ESPN News
Begun in November 1996 with 1.5 million subscribers. ESPNEWS is the only 24-hour sports news network and has established itself as a major sports news and information source in more than 60 million homes.


ESPN-U
ESPN-U is the 24-hour college sports TV network that specializes in college sports. It was launched in March 2005. ESPN-U has marketing agreements with colleges and universities in Kansas, Oregon and Florida. ESPN-U has college marketing agreements with universities and colleges in Kansas, Oregon and South Florida. In August 2006, ESPNU premiered ESPNU.com, a dedicated website that includes live streaming college sports events, podcasts, and other material from ESPN and elsewhere.


ESPN Regional TV
Also known as ERT or ESPN Plus, ESPN Regional Television is one of the largest TV/radio sports marketing, syndication and production companies, producing more than 900 events annually for ESPN networks, ABC, and other national, regional and local outlets. ERT is the nation’s largest syndicator of intercollegiate sports programming, and produces more than 900 college TV programs, including football, basketball, NCAA events, golf and other events. ERT also produces five ESPN-organized football Bowl games, and also the College Football Awards program. In addition, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPN-U.


ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio and affiliates comprise the nation’s largest sports radio network, providing content to more than 700 stations nationwide, including those in the 100 top markets. It has 350 full-time affiliates including owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Pittsburgh. Its programming is also available to U.S. troops in more than 175 countries through American Forces Networks. Programming includes: NBA and Major League Baseball games, college football playoffs and other coverage. An affiliate web site, ESPNRadio.com is one of the most visited online sports radio sites in the U.S., logging as many as 250,000 online listeners per month, also producing more than 35 original podcasts each week accounting for more than four million downloads per month to portable digital devices.


ESPN.comESPN.com is the leading sports web site, averaging 18 million users per month, more than any other sports website.
ESPN’s website, ESPN.com, launched in April 1995 is the leading sports website, averaging 18 million unique users per month, more than any other sports website, according to Neilsen Netratings. It produces 350-450 new videos each week, featuring daily highlights, news, interviews, and originally produced exclusive content. The site also features up-to-the-minute sports news, statistics, analysis and scores; multiple free and premium fantasy games; free online poker; live event webcasts; live chat with players, ESPN experts, sports personalities; a wide array of sports journalism including that of ESPN The Magazine.

 

ESPN Mobile
ESPN also provides up-to-the-minute scores, stats, news headlines, video and some exclusive programming to numerous mobile and wireless providers such as Verizon, QUALCOMM and others. It has features agreements with every major U.S. carrier and 35 international carriers. ESPN Mobile TV offers 24/7 streaming video of ESPN news, highlights, live games and events. ESPN’s wireless Internet site is the #1 wireless sports content site, generating nearly nine million unique visitors monthly.

October 9, 2006 issue of 'ESPN The Magazine' -- covers sports mostly, but sometimes a Tom Cruise story or two may also appear.
October 9, 2006 issue of 'ESPN The Magazine' -- covers sports mostly, but sometimes a Tom Cruise story or two may also appear.


ESPN Books
ESPN Books, started in 2004, is a publishing company operated by ESPN that has published about 20 books so far. ESPN Books also produces ESPN’s yearly sports encyclopedia and operates its own book club.


ESPN The Magazine
Launched in March 1998, ESPN The Magazine has a circulation base of 1.95 million. It covers a variety of sports news and offers in-depth commentary, opinion, and top photography. The magazine also includes occasional stories on celebrities and entertainment. In 2003 and 2006 it won National Magazine awards for general excellence. The magazine’s covers have also been noted by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

See also at this website, two additional stories about the history of cable TV in the U.S. — “Ted Turner & CNN, 1980s-1990s,” and “Brian’s Song: 1977-2012,” about Brian Lamb and the creation of C-SPAN. For additional sports stories and sports history, see the “Annals of Sports” category page.

Thanks for visiting — and if you like what you find here, please make a donation to help support the research and writing at this website. Thank you. — Jack Doyle

 

____________________________________________

Please Support
this Website

Donate Now

Thank You

Date Posted:  2 April 2008
Last Update: 22 December 2022
Comments to: jdoyle@pophistorydig.com

Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “All Sports, All The Time, 1978-2008,”
PopHistoryDig.com, April 2, 2008.

_____________________________

 


 

Sources, Links & Additional Information

Al Michaels' best-selling book, "You Can't Make This Up: Miracles, Memories, and the Perfect Marriage of Sports and Television," William Morrow, 304pp. Click for copy.
Al Michaels' best-selling book, "You Can't Make This Up: Miracles, Memories, and the Perfect Marriage of Sports and Television," William Morrow, 304pp. Click for copy.

“ESPN Turns 26,” RasmussenReports.com, Septem-ber 7, 2005.

Bill Rasmussen, Sports Junkies Rejoice! The Birth of ESPN, Q V Pub., November 1983.

“Bill Rasmussen,” Think Quest, library.thinkquest.org

Tom Sowa, “With Eye to Future, Ex-ESPN Chairman Looks Back,”Spokane Review (Spokane, WA), Sunday, June 6, 2004.

Lee Alan Hill, “Building a TV Sports Empire; How ESPN Created a Model for Cable Success,” Television Week, September 6, 2004.

“ESPN,” Wikipedia.org.

Stuart Evey, ESPN: Creating an Empire – The No-Holds-Barred Story of Power, Ego, Money, and Vision That Transformed a Culture, Triumph Books, September 2004. Click for copy.

Michael J. Freeman ESPN: The Uncensored History, Taylor Publishing, April 2000. Click for copy.

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