General : ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news

[Chad]

Originally Posted by andy_m

It would appear that Bt set out to be Sky Sports and ended up being ESPN, and its cost them a hell of a lot more than it should have done to get to that position. Like Muppetman said, we're in the realms of guess work at the minute, but I should imagine there is still plenty of scope for Virgin to get this new channel on good terms at this moment in time.

I just can't see BT sports being a roaring success. As you've stated Andy it looks like it's going to be ESPN with a new name.

People who will be interested in BT Sports would have probably had either Setanta Sports or ESPN previously. If BT try to price the channel higher than £10.00 per month, they'll just anger sports fans and will find it hard to attract customers.

Even if BT offer the channel for free on their own platform, and come up with competitive bundles, how many satisfied SKY and Virgin customers would actually join BT just to get a free sports channel? I think both SKY and Virgin customers would lose more than they gain by joining BT.

Spiderplant posted some really interesting results last week. In quarter 2 of 2007 Virgin had 3,396,600 TV customers. In July 2007 Virgin added Setanta Sports 1, Setanta Sports 2, Setanta Golf, Racing UK, Celtic TV, Rangers TV and a few months later Setanta Sports News. This was a ground breaking deal, never seen before in the UK, and was marketed aggressively by Virgin. So after 12 month how many new TV customers did Virgin attract with the added lure of free premium sports? Well according to figures provided by Spiderplant it was 179,900, much lower than I'd expected.

Setanta Sports peaked at 1.3 million subscribers over all platforms with a better portfolio of sport than ESPN ever achieved and what BT Sports will have from launch. I just can't see BT making a massive success of this opportunity. Virgin had more to offer in terms of TV content, bundles and packages when they agreed the unique deal with Setanta and pulled in a gross of 179,900 new customers. How can BT do better than this?

BT investors are already worried about how things are progressing. Maybe the investors are scratching their head too trying to understand when they will see a return. Basically BT, like ESPN before them, have 4 years to make this a success. There will come a point where investors demand money stops being thrown at content if uptake is slow.

[Chad]

thatllbeme made a very interesting spot the other day.

ESPN are showing Wladimir Klitschko Vs. Mariusz Wach live from Germany on Saturday the 10th November. My TiVo EPG shows the programme runs from 10pm to midnight.

This pretty much came out of the blue. Whilst ESPN show their flagship boxing show 'Friday Night Fights' from the States, Klitshcko Vs. Wach is the first time ESPN have broadcast a proper top level fight featuring a fighter at his peak. It's the kind of thing boxing fans were screaming for ESPN to do when Setanta collapsed.

I wonder if ESPN are trying out other sports to see if a potential future channel could exist without football.

[alwaysabear]

Originally Posted by Chad

thatllbeme made a very interesting spot the other day.

ESPN are showing Wladimir Klitschko Vs. Mariusz Wach live from Germany on Saturday the 10th November. My TiVo EPG shows the programme runs from 10pm to midnight.

This pretty much came out of the blue. Whilst ESPN show their flagship boxing show 'Friday Night Fights' from the States, Klitshcko Vs. Wach is the first time ESPN have broadcast a proper top level fight featuring a fighter at his peak. It's the kind of thing boxing fans were screaming for ESPN to do when Setanta collapsed.

I wonder if ESPN are trying out other sports to see if a potential future channel could exist without football.

ESPN have already got a model of their own in ESPN America , this channel has been around for many years in one form or another supplying quality events to American sports fans. I am sure with the right content it could succeed although there is stiff competition from British Eurosport who have most of the second tier sports signed like cycling and winter sports.

[Chad]

Originally Posted by alwaysabear

ESPN have already got a model of their own in ESPN America , this channel has been around for many years in one form or another supplying quality events to American sports fans. I am sure with the right content it could succeed although there is stiff competition from British Eurosport who have most of the second tier sports signed like cycling and winter sports.

I'm not really a massive American sports fan but what would be the essential top 5 sports that ESPN America would need to cover for their channel to be a success? I know Premier Sports have the broadcast rights to some popular sports like the NFL and NASCAR, which seem to keep their subscribers happy.

Would it be something like:

1. American Football
2. Basketball
3. Baseball
4. Ice Hockey
5. MMA / Boxing

Alternatively what would be your dream American sports channel line-up? NFL, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, UFC etc.....

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by Chad

I'm not really a massive American sports fan but what would be the essential top 5 sports that ESPN America would need to cover for their channel to be a success? I know Premier Sports have the broadcast rights to some popular sports like the NFL and NASCAR, which seem to keep their subscribers happy.

Would it be something like:

1. American Football
2. Basketball
3. Baseball
4. Ice Hockey
5. MMA / Boxing

Alternatively what would be your dream American sports channel line-up? NFL, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, UFC etc.....

Simple NFL , NBA , NCAA (Football & Basketball) , MLB , NASCAR , NHL.

[Chad]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Simple NFL , NBA , NCAA (Football & Basketball) , MLB , NASCAR , NHL.

I've been reading some interesting posts on Facebook from Premier Sports subscribers. It seems many pay to watch just NHL or NASCAR. With the NHL in lockout, subscribers are getting a little restless about the lack of live hockey action. Also my understanding is the NASCAR season comes to an end in a couple of weeks. One person asked:

"With just 3 races to go i have 2 questions #1 will nascar sprint cup be back in 2013 #2 what has premier got to offer us nascar only viewers in the off season to keep us with Premier Sports in December/January"

Premier Sports replied:

"News on this soon Paul. Very soon."

The reply from Premier Sports would suggest they don't currently have a long term deal in place with NASCAR. Maybe a chance for ESPN to jump in for the rights? Also unless the NHL lockout ends soon, American sports fans subscribing to Premier Sports face a real lack of action this Winter. I wonder if Premier Sports can retain their current sports rights if subscribers leave in their droves?

[alwaysabear]

Originally Posted by Chad

I've been reading some interesting posts on Facebook from Premier Sports subscribers. It seems many pay to watch just NHL or NASCAR. With the NHL in lockout, subscribers are getting a little restless about the lack of live hockey action. Also my understanding is the NASCAR season comes to an end in a couple of weeks. One person asked:

"With just 3 races to go i have 2 questions #1 will nascar sprint cup be back in 2013 #2 what has premier got to offer us nascar only viewers in the off season to keep us with Premier Sports in December/January"

Premier Sports replied:

"News on this soon Paul. Very soon."

The reply from Premier Sports would suggest they don't currently have a long term deal in place with NASCAR. Maybe a chance for ESPN to jump in for the rights? Also unless the NHL lockout ends soon, American sports fans subscribing to Premier Sports face a real lack of action this Winter. I wonder if Premier Sports can retain their current sports rights if subscribers leave in their droves?

Premier Sports has a major problem as you say some only sub for the NHL.
I cannot see the lockout ending any time soon the earliest it could start if there was an agreement tomorrow would be December.The winter classic has also been cancelled which is a high light of the season played on 1St Jan . Many of the NHL stars are now playing in the Russian League (KHL), now if ESPN were smart they would get the rights to it, as the NHL and players are far away from a deal and some players will never return from Europe as they are making a good living there.

[Chad]

Originally Posted by alwaysabear

Premier Sports has a major problem as you say some only sub for the NHL.
I cannot see the lockout ending any time soon the earliest it could start if there was an agreement tomorrow would be December.The winter classic has also been cancelled which is a high light of the season played on 1St Jan . Many of the NHL stars are now playing in the Russian League (KHL), now if ESPN were smart they would get the rights to it, as the NHL and players are far away from a deal and some players will never return from Europe as they are making a good living there.

How often is KHL and AHL on ESPN / ESPN America and what kind of level of hockey are we talking about? If NHL, KHL and AHL were English Premiership football clubs, who would they be? As stated earlier I'm not a big American sports fan but I'm interested in the future of ESPN and Premier Sports. I need to draw on analogies to help me understand.

Thanks for humouring me

[alwaysabear]

Originally Posted by Chad

How often is KHL and AHL on ESPN / ESPN America and what kind of level of hockey are we talking about? If NHL, KHL and AHL were English Premiership football clubs, who would they be? As stated earlier I'm not a big American sports fan but I'm interested in the future of ESPN and Premier Sports. I need to draw on analogies to help me understand.

Thanks for humouring me

I have seen a few AHL games not sure exactly when they are on probably overnight and replayed the next day.
The KHL is not on ESPN, its the Premier Ice Hockey league in Europe and has attracted a lot of NHL talent whilst there locked out .
NHL would be Utd ,City, Chelsea KHL Spurs,Arsnal and AHL Southampton, Reading or more likely a Championship team. IMO

[Chad]

Originally Posted by alwaysabear

I have seen a few AHL games not sure exactly when they are on probably overnight and replayed the next day.
The KHL is not on ESPN, its the Premier Ice Hockey league in Europe and has attracted a lot of NHL talent whilst there locked out .
NHL would be Utd ,City, Chelsea KHL Spurs,Arsnal and AHL Southampton, Reading or more likely a Championship team. IMO

Thanks for the info. I was sure ESPN had snapped up the rights to KHL so checked ahead on the TiVo EPG. Metallurg Mg v Avangard is on ESPN on the 14th November from 12:00pm through to 2:30pm. Not ideal if you're at work! The ESPN website also has Dynamo Moscow v Vityaz listed on the 20th November at 3:30pm.

[alwaysabear]

Originally Posted by Chad

Thanks for the info. I was sure ESPN had snapped up the rights to KHL so checked ahead on the TiVo EPG. Metallurg Mg v Avangard is on ESPN on the 14th November from 12:00pm through to 2:30pm. Not ideal if you're at work! The ESPN website also has Dynamo Moscow v Vityaz listed on the 20th November at 3:30pm.

Thanks I was completely unaware they had picked up the rights. Will be ok to record, although I do prefer live sport. Two games in a month does look a bit mean to me, its unlikely to catch on with such little coverage.

[denphone]

BT deals further blow to ESPN with new rights deals

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/ne...hts-deals.html

BT has secured more live football rights ahead of the launch of its new channel, after poaching Italian, French, Brazilian and US club football from ESPN.

The telecoms giant has secured multi-year rights deals to Serie A in Italy, Ligue 1 in France, Brasileiro in Brazil and Major League Soccer (MLS) in the USA.

[alwaysabear]

Originally Posted by denphone

BT deals further blow to ESPN with new rights deals

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/ne...hts-deals.html

I think ESPN have sold the rights on.

[MaverickJesus]

ESPN basically have nothing now.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by MaverickJesus

ESPN basically have nothing now.

Exactly.