Here in the UK, ESPN has had a somewhat turbulent 18 months. In the summer of 2012 it lost the broadcast rights to the Premier League – a major blow to any sports broadcaster – and, amid reports of significant financial losses, subsequently decided to sell its TV business to BT in 2013. But arriving at its US headquarters, you wouldn’t know it.
Three hours from the media capital of Manhattan, and surrounded by nothing but desolate fields, barren trees and an elevator testing facility, the “mother ship”, as it has been rather appropriately dubbed, appears on the Connecticut horizon like some otherworldly fortress.“It takes dedication to work out here,” laughs Patrick Stiegman, the broadcaster’s vice-president and editorial director of digital and print media, from his office which today sits within a vast campus housing over 4,000 employees.
Conforming to the norm has never been on the agenda for ESPN. Amid the burgeoning broadcast operators of the 60s and 70s, ESPN was established in 1978, rather boldly, as one ofthe first pay TV networks. It went against the grain then and has continued to push the boundaries in a bid to stay ahead of the ever-changing consumer, particularly in the digital era.“The company came from humble origins and has a can-do spirit,” explains John Kosner, executive vice-president for digital and print media. “The single most important factor of that has been that the company has always believed in challenging itself and cannibalising itself as opposed to not doing things because it might put something else at risk. We don’t get tied up in legacy thinking, and people retrain and adapt. We’re always looking forward.”
Discussing its current place in the market, Kosner says that it has one simple mantra that it lives by: “To serve sports fans anytime, anywhere”.To fulfil this, ESPN now publishes content across a myriad of global platforms including TV, radio, and web as well as a variety of apps for mobile and tablet.Proof of its continued commitment to digital production is DC2 [Digital Centre 2], a state of the art hub at the Connecticut campus that, come May, will house a cavernous new studio for its flagship show, SportsCenter, as well several other similarly expansive studios that will host shows around its major sports.
But walking through the as yet unfinished building, it’s clear that what seems to be getting most ESPNers excited is the dedicated digital suite for the production of website and app content, which sits adjacent to the new SportsCenter studio. This will play a vital role in the company’s future.“This is where the new era is. For a long time in our history the first experience people had with us was on TV, now it may be one of the experiences they have,” explains Russell Wolff, executive vice president and managing director for ESPN International. “So we have to make sure they are all excellent. We have countries where we don’t have linear television and the only embodiment of the ESPN experience is through the digital products.”
Kosner adds: “Our ability to create great experiences that really serve fans, that are smart, that are fast, that’s on us to do. We used to just be able to do a great job of a telecast, now we’re expected to create applications that you use and say ‘that’s as good as what Google, Facebook or Twitter can do’. That’s raised a whole new level of competition and expectation. Mobile is not an island and our audience, certainly those ages 25 and under, say ‘show us your app’ and if it stinks they think you stink. It doesn’t matter about all this other stuff that you do, that’s the orientation.”And, in the wake of the decision to sell its UK TV business to BT, ESPN’s digital offering has never been more important. Seemingly reluctant to delve too deep, Wolff is unwaveringly positive on the effort to build its presence with British sports fans. “We’re pretty bullish on the future of ESPN in the UK. It’s different than the business we had before, but we still have an ESPN branded television network available to everyone in the UK and sold to the folks who’ve signed up to the BT Sports bundle. So the future looks like a continuation of a branded TV channel and real digital growth.”
Leading the UK effort is Charly Classen, the newly appointed vice-president and general manager ESPN EMEA, who Kosner described as a “visionary leader” who has “the ability to create a new path for ESPN”.Speaking about where he sees the UK business’ place in the market, Classen reveals that the growth he has seen at ESPN.co.uk in the past year has been “phenomenal, both in terms of traffic and video growth and engagement,” before beaming, “I think we’re growing at a faster pace than in the US”.Classen admits that this is “partly because it started from a lower base”, but nonetheless ESPN.co.uk has registered its best year on record averaging 1.2 million unique visitors per month, up nine per cent year-on-year. Similarly, mobile page views and visits have more than tripled and traffic from tablets has more than quadrupled.
An often overlooked segment of the business is its magazine. Despite an audience consuming more content than ever across digital platforms, ESPN saw circulation of its print title grow from 2m to 2.1m last year and increased the number of journalists on staff to over 400. No mean feat, given the current climate of print media. “We see it as another screen for our fans and the creation of another form of content that occupies a different time in a fan’s week. We have tons of web content and the iPad has made strides, but it’s still not the best experience to relax in and read long form journalism,” Kosner says. “I attribute the success to the fact that we are in the ESPN business, not the magazine business. It’s part of a media approach that’s supported by the machine.” Having spent a day at the “mother ship”, to say that ESPN is positive on the outlook of its future would be an understatement. And it is difficult to fault it for it; in a mere 35 years the company has managed to carve out a formidable place for itself with sports fans. However, positivity is not always enough and it remains to be seen how ESPN’s future in the fickle UK market will play out.
