ESPN: The MVP in Sports
Entertainment
Benjamin Corral, Steven Lopez, Aaron
Rodriguez, Andrew Velasquez & Tanick Werapatanakul
ENT MKT 4330
April 15, 2019
Professor Akopian
Introduction
ESPN is the leader in sports news
and entertainment across the globe, providing the most comprehensive coverage
of sports and the events. ESPN dominates the sports and sports news genres of
cable network television with a total of six different channels to choose from
and their flagship program “Sportscenter”. ESPN shifted their emphasis on
global markets especially after the acquisition of the network ownership by
Walt Disney company in 1996. In the last two decades, ESPN has changed the
scope of sports broadcasting in the world and has redefined sports media.
History
The Entertainment and Sports
Programming Network, otherwise known as “ESPN” is an American based global
cable and satellite television channel whose primary focus is on sports-related
programming. The company was started in 1978 by Bill Rasmussen, whose goal was
to broadcast sporting events to cable television operators via satellite. The
programs included on the network are live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports
highlights, talk shows, and other sports-related programs. ESPN network was
actually one of the first companies in the United States to utilize satellite
communication which was very new technology at the time and enabled ESPN to
ceaselessly broadcast their programs on a 24-hour basis through satellite feed.
Also worth mentioning, ESPN was among the first to broadcast professional sport
networks starting with the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and
eventually the National Hockey League. The company still resides and is
headquartered in Bristol, Connecticut.
Leadership
James Pitaro – President of ESPN, Co-chair, Disney Media
Networks. Jame
Pitaro is the President of ESPN as well as the Co-Chair of Disney Media
Networks. James oversees the networks multimedia sports content of over 50
business entities internationally. James Pitaro assumed his position as
President of ESPN on March 5, 2018. James has an extensive background in
branding and technology.
Sean Bratches – Executive Vice President, Sales and
Marketing. Sean
Bratches started his career with Storer Television sales as a regional manager.
In this job he built his foundation for advertising with his responsibilities
for national spot advertising there. He joined ESPN in October of 1988 as an
Account Executive till he was promoted to Senior Account Executive. In 1992 he became
the director of the northeast region and in 1995 he became senior vice
president of affiliate sales and marketing. In December of 1998 he was promoted
to executive vice president of affiliate sales and marketing till he got his
current position in 2001.
Cross-Platform Media & Content. Cross-Platform Media & Content
involves the creation of award-winning stories, news and programming for every
ESPN platform. This department reaches millions of fans through any form of
sports-related content through print, online, mobile, TV and radio (ESPN,
2019).
Technology. ESPN’s technology division
is composed of those who specialize in Engineering, Network Support, and other
areas where they collaborate to provide dynamic solutions. They handle
everything from coding real-time scoreboards for ESPN.com to developing apps
like NFL Playoff Machine and Tournament Challenge (ESPN, 2019).
Corporate. This department of
individuals includes segments such as corporate communications, corporate
outreach, human resources, facilities, finance & accounting, global
security and legal (ESPN, 2019). All of these segments are in place to support
and drive innovation of all areas of business.
Sales & Marketing. This division is
responsible for discovering new ways to bring ESPN products to their global
customers. They are involved with everything from collaborating with
advertisers to closing deals with satellite distributors.
Milestones
On September 1, 1980, two years
after their founding, they became a 24/7 sports channel and 3 years later began
to broadcast their channel internationally. Two years after going international
in 1995, the firm launched espn.com
which opened the doors to expand on the internet. In 1996, Disney acquired ESPN
and continued to expand the brand through the 2000s by launching many new
programs such as ESPN Deportes, ESPN HD,
ESPN Deportes Radio and Longhorn
Network. This new diversification in products allowed them to provide not
only premium broadcasts but they were also able to reach new audiences. In 2009,
through their expanded programming, they were awarded their first Emmy for
their EA Playbook program. Then in 2013, ESPN took a large step into the
digital realm of business by launching their ESPN app which allows users to
stream live games, check the latest scores and watch highlights all on mobile
devices.
Competitors
ESPN is a multifaceted company who
covers a multitude of areas in sports. This makes it difficult to pinpoint
competitors for them since they compete with everyone who covers sports-related
content. Despite this circumstance, they still have competitors who compete
with them on many platforms; with Fox
Sports and NBC Sports being the
biggest threats.
Fox Sports
Fox Sports was founded in 1994
during Fox’s failed attempt to nationalize their local affiliates. They tried
again in 2013 and succeeded in creating a national platform for Fox Sports.
Their strategy began to unfold when they turned their channels of Speed and Fuel to Fox Sports 1 and Fox
Sports 2, and took sports off other channels such as FXX. Their first-day rating resulted quite well, but within a week
they would see a decline as the entire company would only be averaging 81,000
viewers. Due to the low number, Fox decided to try and expand its programs with
one of its biggest expansions by airing the German Bundesliga games, which is
one of the top soccer leagues in the world. The contract did not attract more
viewers which lead Fox Sports to draining profits from its parent company, 21st Century Fox (awfulanouncing.com)
The ratings did not reach expectations which lead to Fox providing “make good”
commercials (commercials that were free in return for sponsoring fox sports) on
other Fox programs. In 2016, they tried to revamp the company again when they
decided to focus on opinions and reporting over featuring highlights. This
approach started in February by airing programs for Super Bowl 50. This created
buzz on the channel especially with wacky things like NFL star Rob Gronkowski
giving a “lap dance” to one of their reporters. This buzz began to fall later
on that day and the week after when they failed to produce sports news. Through
2016 and 2017, Fox Sports was faced with an age discrimination and sexual
harassment case. The company continues to have a sporadic buzz for their
channel but fails to maintain the interest of its viewers.
NBC Sports
The other large competitor of ESPN
is NBC Sports. NBC Sports is a long-standing sports telecasting company dating
back to July 2nd, 1921 with their radio narration of the Jack Dempsey vs
Georges Carpentier boxing match. They continued their legacy of reporting by
providing broadcasts of large events such as the first coast to coast Rose
Bowl, the first broadcast of the Olympics, the first televised tennis match and
continue to host global events such as the Super Bowl, Wimbledon and many
primetime sporting events. On October 4, 2017, they released the NBC Sports app
giving their viewers the ability to receive the content of the channel on their
mobile devices. Both companies compete with ESPN on sports commentary, live
broadcasts, mobile device applications, websites, and radio. When it comes to
ESPN and their competitors on the metric of the number of viewers, their
closest competitor, Fox Sports, ESPN beat them with 4.25 times more viewers (Forbes). Despite being a competitor in
every field of sports media of ESPN’s product line, these companies stand as
minor threats to the sports giant that is ESPN.
Marketing Mix
ESPN is the largest sports media
company in the world valued at 14.6 billion USD. In order to maintain their
dominance in their field they provide a plethora of different products, provide
fair prices, strategically place their products to maximize profits as well as
promote the products creatively and with effective strategies. The products
which they provide are any sports content made available by a packaged
subscription service through cable providers as well as internet streaming
services. ESPN offers a total of 161 channels which include ESPNHD, ESPN 2 and
ESPN Deportes. Other items in their product line are ESPN Classics, ESPN Radio
as well as their ESPN the magazine. Their final stream of revenue is through
their ESPN+ subscription, which was launched in April of 2018. The ESPN+
subscription costs $4.99 a month and includes live sports telecasts as well as
exclusive ESPN originals such as E:60, 30 for 30, Draft Academy and their
award-winning Detail series. In
effort to increase their number of subscribers and maintain brand awareness,
ESPN utilizes corporate sponsorships as well as social media marketing. Their
social media campaigns mainly show snippets of ESPN’s featured talk shows where
they debate the largest trending topics of the sports world. This entices
people who are following sports headlines, as they are likely to press play on
such promotional videos and follow up on the topic through ESPN’s live
broadcast; which is available on the multiple platforms.
S.W.O.T.
ESPN is the strongest sports
broadcasting company in the world. However, there are many areas in which they
need to improve and with the process of improvement, there will be times that
will help them achieve their goals and times where they will have setbacks ESPN
has shown its importance in the sports industry and maintains its dominance in
their field through a reliable and wide distribution network, broad portfolio,
and a strong parent company. The things that at hurting the company are limited
viewership, decreasing income, and seasonality of the industry. The ways they
can fix these problems are broadening the product line and diversifying the
business. Factors that could stop them from achieving their goals of being a
stronger company are online streaming, saturation in viewership, changing
lifestyle and contracts with sports leagues.
Preliminary Marketing Strategy
Living in a technological driven
society means that in order for business to stay up to date, then measures to
stay in sync with the trends must be taken. ESPN has done a phenomenal job with
the launch of its mobile streaming service in 2013. This has allowed the
company to reach their target audience in a different level, and served as a
heads up move to stay ahead of the curve. ESPN’s target market relies heavily
on sports fanatics around the globe, and the company aims to provide them with
an unparalleled service better than their competitors. The demographics of
their ideal target market ranges from various ages, ethnicities, and
psychographics. For example, while the main channel (ESPN) serves all men,
women and children, ESPN 2 is designed to target younger viewers ranging from
18-35. In addition, ESPN Deportes is aimed for those who enjoy American, as
well as non-American sports, and are able to tune-in in Spanish. Time and time
again, ESPN delivers on its promise to be the number one provider of sports
entertainment for all.
Conclusion
Over the years, ESPN has transformed
the way people have consumed sports media and entertainment. Its brand name,
specifically in domestics markets, has almost become synonymous with sports
media in general. Their diverse product matrix allows them to cater to a wide
variety of consumers. Whether it be through traditional print coverage with its
magazine or exclusive streaming through its ESPN+ app, ESPN has done an
exceptional job at providing sports content through a number of conduits. It’s
house household name alone is part of what sets it apart from its competitors.
References
Bhasin, H. (2018). Top ESPN Competitors. Marketing 91. Retrieved from
ESPN. (2019). Career Areas [webpage]. Retrieved from https://espncareers.com/career-areas
ESPN+. (2019). Home
[webpage]. Retrieved from
Fang, K. (2017). The Fox Sports 1/FS1 Timeline reveals a
network that showed no patience.
Awful Announcing. Retrieved from
Forbes. (2018). ESPN [webpage].
Retrieved from
NBC Sports. (2019). NBC Sports History [webpage]. Retrieved
from
Steinberg, B. (2018). Can a New President and Streaming
Service Help ESPN Win Again?.
Variety. Retrieved from
https://variety.com/2018/tv/features/espn-trouble-jimmy-pitaro-streaming-service-ratings-disney-1202736283/#article-comments
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