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63-430: The practice of distributing ACC sports telecasts to regional networks began with the original Jefferson-Pilot syndication package for football and Raycom/JP package for basketball in the 1980s. At that time Raycom and JP would distribute ACC telecasts through AT&T network lines to local over the air affiliates. Raycom Sports would continue to distribute ACC telecasts, mostly football and men's basketball under what became

126-691: A 4:3 full-screen to a letterboxed format (via the application of the AFD #10 display flag), which occurred on June 1 of that year. WatchESPN was a website for desktop computers , as well as an application for smartphones and tablet computers that allowed subscribers of participating pay-TV providers to watch live streams of programming from ESPN and its sister networks (except for ESPN Classic), including most sporting events, on computers, mobile devices, Apple TV , Roku and Xbox Live via their TV Everywhere login provided by their cable provider. The service originally launched on October 25, 2010, as ESPN Networks,

189-699: A hostage situation at the Washington Monument , tying up the AT&;T network lines required for Raycom to distribute the game. Jefferson-Pilot Teleproductions was the sole producer of ACC football beginning with the 1984 football season, but the Raycom/JP Sports joint venture began to include ACC football for the 2004 season. In 2006, JP Sports' parent company, the Jefferson Pilot Corporation, merged with Lincoln National Corporation , taking

252-469: A 20-year extension of its ACC rights, and that it would launch a new ACC cable network, also known as ACC Network , in 2019, with its accompanying digital platform ACC Network Extra launching in the 2016–17 season. As part of the establishment of the channel, ESPN acquired Raycom Sports' previous package of games. Beginning with the 2018 ACC football season , the ACC Network branding was dropped, and

315-538: A 24-hour sports channel in January 2004. ESPNU is a subscription television network that launched on March 4, 2005, that focuses on college athletics including basketball, football, baseball , college swimming, and ice hockey . SEC Network is a subscription television network that launched on August 14, 2014, focusing on the coverage of sporting events sanctioned by the Southeastern Conference . Created as

378-410: A discussion between ACC commissioner John Swofford and then-ESPN president John Skipper , Swofford acknowledged Raycom's long-standing relationship with the conference, and requested that it continue to be involved in some way. ESPN negotiated a sublicensing agreement with Raycom, which would allow it to continue producing a syndicated package of ACC football and basketball broadcasts. As a condition of

441-888: A joint venture of network operator ESPN Inc. and the ACC. ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by the ESPN division of the Walt Disney Company, in partnership with ESPN Inc. ESPN launched its high definition simulcast feed, originally branded as ESPNHD , on March 30, 2003, with an Opening Day broadcast of the Texas Rangers and Anaheim Angels . All studio shows based in Bristol and at L. A. Live, along with most live event telecasts on ESPN, are broadcast in high definition. ESPN

504-408: A joint venture with Fox Sports and TNT Sports to offer Venu Sports , including the three organizations' main linear sports channels and associated media rights, beginning in fall 2024. Additionally, the company plans to launch a "flagship" standalone streaming offering, including the ESPN and ESPN2 linear channels, in late summer or fall 2025. Alongside its live sports broadcasts, ESPN also airs

567-595: A large number of NCAA football games, creating an opportunity for fans to be able to view multiple games each weekend (instead of just one), the same deal that the NCAA had previously negotiated with TBS. ESPN's breakthrough moment occurred in 1987 when it secured a contract with the NFL to broadcast eight games during that year's regular season – all of which aired on Sunday nights, marking the first broadcasts of Sunday NFL primetime games. ESPN's Sunday Night Football games would become

630-540: A lead-in to the primetime game and adding the MLB Network -produced Intentional Talk to ESPN2 's daily lineup. On April 12, 2018, ESPN began a supplemental over-the-top streaming service known as ESPN+ . After having last carried national-televised NHL games in 2004, ESPN and ABC agreed in March 2021 on a seven-year contract to televise games, with some airing on ESPN+ and Hulu . The contract also awarded four of

693-472: A limited array of events not broadcast on ESPN (most notably, the NBA Finals ). ESPN2 was launched on October 1, 1993. It carried a broad mix of event coverage from conventional sports—including auto racing , college basketball and NHL hockey—to extreme sports —such as BMX , skateboarding and motocross . The " ESPN BottomLine ", a ticker displaying sports news and scores during all programming that

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756-546: A limited number of soccer , field hockey, and volleyball matches. The package contains around 16 football games per year, around 40 men's basketball games, and 25 women's basketball games. It previously aired early-round coverage of the ACC women's basketball tournament and ACC baseball tournament until 2022, when ESPN reached an agreement with Raycom Sports and Bally Sports to move coverage of these two events to ACC Network. ACC Network (syndication package) ACC Network

819-501: A national sports talk radio network providing analysis and commentary programs (including shows such as Mike and Mike in the Morning and The Herd ) as well as audio play-by-play of sporting events (including some simulcast with the ESPN television channel). On October 10, 1993, ESPN2 – a secondary channel that originally was programmed with a separate lineup of niche sports popular with males 18–49 years old (with snowboarding and

882-488: A new betting-themed daily program, Daily Wager , hosted by the network's gambling analyst Doug Kezirian. The program was ESPN's first regularly scheduled program solely dedicated to gaming-related content. On May 14, 2019, ESPN announced a deal with casino operator Caesars Entertainment to establish an ESPN-branded studio at The LINQ Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to produce betting-themed content. In order to help offset

945-530: A period during the 1980s, the network had boxing tournaments, crowning champions in different boxing weight divisions as "ESPN champions". The next major stepping stone for ESPN came throughout a couple of months in 1984. During this period, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) purchased 100% of ESPN from the Rasmussens and Getty Oil. Under Getty ownership, the channel was unable to compete for

1008-442: A phone feature, then after its termination into a Verizon Wireless paid service. Technologies developed for it have since been transferred to the network's successful mobile strategy in the smartphone era. ESPN Classic was a subscription television network that launched in 1995 as Classic Sports Network, founded by Brian Bedol and Steve Greenberg. ESPN Inc. purchased Classic Sports Network in 1997 for $ 175 million, rebranding

1071-521: A result of a 20-year broadcast partnership between the two entities, the network is a joint venture between the conference and ESPN Inc., which operates the network. Launching on August 22, 2019, the ACC Network is a subscription television network that focuses on the sporting events of the Atlantic Coast Conference as part of a current agreement extending to the 2036–37 academic term as

1134-530: A streaming service that provided a live stream of ESPN exclusive to Time Warner Cable subscribers. ESPN3 , an online streaming service providing live streams and replays of global sports events that launched in 2005 as a separate website, was incorporated into the WatchESPN platform on August 31, 2011. Likewise, ESPN+ was launched in April 2018 as an add-on subscription for $ 4.99 per month. On June 1, 2019, WatchESPN

1197-659: A sub-license package of ACC telecasts produced by Raycom, which will include 13 football games, 28 men's basketball games, and 9 women's basketball games per-season. The broadcasts were initially branded as the ACC on The CW . Beginning in the 2024 football season, the Raycom-produced football games are now broadcast under the new CW Football Saturday banner alongside a new Pac-12 package, with Pac-12 Network staff producing its studio coverage and conference games. The ACC on Regional Sports Networks consisted of football , men's and women's basketball, baseball , softball , and

1260-421: A variety of sports highlight, talk, and documentary-styled shows. These include: Many of ESPN's documentary programs (such as 30 for 30 and Nine for IX ) are produced by ESPN Films , a film division created in March 2008 as a restructuring of ESPN Original Entertainment, a programming division that was originally formed in 2001. 30 for 30 started airing in 2009 and continues airing to this day. Each episode

1323-709: Is a minority owner of The Sports Network (TSN) and the French-language Réseau des sports (RDS). ESPN also has a minority stake in J Sports in Japan. ESPN moved into the sports betting scene in November 2023 with plans to launch their sportsbook app "ESPN Bet" on November 14. In a partnership with Penn Entertainment, ESPN Bet began in 17 states. Once live, ESPN featured betting odds from their own sportsbook on their content. ESPN has been criticized for focusing too much on men's college and professional sports (particularly

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1386-575: Is now used by all of ESPN's networks, originated on ESPN2 in 1995. In the late 1990s, ESPN2 was gradually reformatted to serve as a secondary outlet for ESPN's mainstream sports programming. ESPNews is a subscription television network that was launched on November 1, 1996, originally focusing solely on sports news, highlights, and press conferences . Since August 2010, the network has gradually incorporated encores of ESPN's various sports debate and entertainment shows and video simulcasts of ESPN Radio shows, in addition to sports news programming. Since

1449-626: Is one of the few television networks with an all-digital infrastructure. Archived non-HD programming is presented in 4:3 standard definition with stylized pillarboxing . Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn began airing in HD on September 27, 2010, with the relocation of the production of both shows into the facility housing the Washington, D.C. , bureau for ABC News . ESPN broadcasts HD programming in

1512-640: Is through the eyes of a well known filmmaker and has featured some of the biggest directors in Hollywood. The 30 for 30 film O.J.: Made in America won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2017 , the first such Oscar for ESPN. Ultimate Fighting Championship signed a five-year contract with ESPN starting 2019 on ESPN and ESPN+ which estimate every quarter 2 event on UFC on ESPN and 6 events on UFC Fight Night on ESPN+. In March 2019, ESPN announced

1575-459: The ACC Network , to over the air affiliates until the 2019 ACC men's basketball tournament , when ESPN acquired Raycom Sports' previous package of games for its new ACC Network cable channel. The practice of distributing ACC sports to regional sports networks started in 2011 after the signing of a new 12-year agreement between the ACC, ESPN and Raycom Sports. The agreement gave Raycom Sports

1638-422: The 720p resolution format, because ABC executives proposed a progressive scan signal that resolves fluid and high-speed motion in sports better, particularly during slow-motion replays. The network's Digital Center itself natively holds 2160p UHD/4K operations and equipment. In 2011, ESPNHD began to downplay its distinct promotional logo in preparation for the conversion of its standard definition feed from

1701-590: The American Athletic Conference , Big 12 Conference , Mid-American Conference , Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference , Sun Belt Conference and the Western Athletic Conference . ESPN distributes various content on Snapchat Discover, including a Snapchat-only version of SportsCenter . ESPN MVP (initially known as Mobile ESPN) was a 2005 attempt at operating a mobile virtual network operator with exclusive mobile content, first as

1764-808: The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network ) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by The Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Communications (20%) through the joint venture ESPN Inc. The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen , Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan. ESPN broadcasts primarily from studio facilities located in Bristol, Connecticut . The network also operates offices and auxiliary studios in Miami , Orlando , New York City , Las Vegas , Seattle , Charlotte , Washington, D.C. , and Los Angeles . James Pitaro has been chairman since March 5, 2018, following

1827-450: The NFL Draft , bringing it also to a mass audience and over time creating a television "event". That same month the network began broadcasting Top Rank Boxing on ESPN , marking the beginning of its involvement with televised professional boxing . The show lasted 16 years, and ESPN has since shown boxing live intermittently with other shows including ESPN Friday Night Fights and others. For

1890-765: The Texas Longhorns varsity sports teams of the University of Texas at Austin . It features events from the 20 sports sanctioned by the Texas athletic department, along with original programming (including historical, academic and cultural content). It was discontinued on June 30, 2024, a day before the Longhorns' move to the Southeastern Conference . ESPN owns and operates regional channels in Brazil, Caribbean , Latin America , Netherlands, Oceania and Sub-Saharan Africa . In Canada, ESPN

1953-554: The World Series of Poker as its headliners) as well as serving as an overflow channel for ESPN – launched on cable systems reaching to 10 million subscribers. It became the fastest-growing cable channel in the U.S. during the 1990s, eventually expanding its national reach to 75 million subscribers. Ownership of ABC, and thus control of ESPN, was acquired by Capital Cities Communications in 1985. ESPN's parent company renamed themselves as Capital Cities/ABC Inc. Capital Cities/ABC Inc.

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2016-403: The "exclusive beer advertised on the network". ESPN launched on September 7, 1979, beginning with the first telecast of what would become the channel's flagship program, SportsCenter . Taped in front of a small live audience inside the Bristol studios, it was broadcast to 1.4 million cable subscribers throughout the United States. ESPN's next big step forward came when the channel acquired

2079-461: The 1982–83 basketball season. The roots of the current package date to 1957, when Greensboro businessman C.D. Chesley hastily assembled a five-station network to broadcast North Carolina 's appearance in that year's Final Four. The Tar Heels went on to win the national championship, and Chesley expanded to a full-season package for the 1957–58 season. Chelsey retained the rights until his retirement in 1981, and then Baltimore -based Metrosports had

2142-612: The 2013 cancellation of Highlight Express , programming consists mainly of rebroadcasts of SportsCenter . ESPNews also serves as an overflow feed due to programming conflicts caused by sporting events on the other ESPN networks. ESPN Deportes ( Spanish pronunciation: [i.es.piˈen deˈpoɾtes] , "ESPN Sports") is a subscription television network that was originally launched in July 2001 to provide Spanish simulcasts of certain Major League Baseball telecasts from ESPN. It became

2205-721: The ACC package in 2023 amid its bankruptcy. In turn, The CW acquired the package via its newly-formed CW Sports division; many of the network's affiliates had previously carried the syndicated ACC Network. Upon its final season, ACC Network included: Outside of the U.S., the telecasts could be received in Canada via historic superstations still carried on cable, such as Boston's WSBK-TV , and during its final seasons, WPCH-TV in Atlanta (the former WTBS), as well as over-the-air signals receivable in border markets. Primary source: ESPN ESPN (an abbreviation of its original name,

2268-520: The ACC rights just for the 1981–82 season. The first ACC basketball telecast by Raycom/JP Sports was an early-season game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Duke Blue Devils on the night of December 8, 1982. It was uncertain whether this first broadcast was going to happen at all until the 9 p.m. tip-off; many East Coast network affiliates were unexpectedly carrying national coverage of

2331-851: The NBA and NFL), and very little on women's sports or extreme sports. Baseball , ice hockey , and soccer fans have also criticized ESPN for not giving their respective sports more coverage. Other criticism has focused on ethnicity in ESPN's varying mediated forms, as well as carriage fees and issues regarding the exportation of ESPN content. Some critics argue that ESPN's success is their ability to provide other enterprise and investigative sports news while competing with other hard sports-news-producing outlets such as Yahoo! Sports and Fox Sports . Some scholars have challenged ESPN's journalistic integrity, calling for an expanded standard of professionalism to prevent biased coverage and conflicts of interest. On October 8, 2019, Deadspin reported that an internal memo

2394-534: The SEC's main rightsholder besides CBS. Raycom began syndicating the ACC Network beyond the ACC footprint sometime between 2010 and 2013. Beginning with the 2014–2015 academic season, following the discontinuation of ESPN's syndicated SEC package after the launch of the SEC Network cable channel, Raycom expanded the ACC Network's distribution up to 84% of the entire United States. On July 21, 2016, ESPN announced

2457-542: The Whalers), first rented office space in Plainville, Connecticut . However, the plan to base ESPN there was put on hold because of a local ordinance prohibiting buildings from bearing rooftop satellite dishes . Available land to build their own facility on was quickly found in Bristol, Connecticut (where the channel remains headquartered to this day), with funding to buy the property provided by Getty Oil , which purchased 85% of

2520-478: The ability to syndicate a select number of football, basketball and Olympic sports on regional sports networks. As the majority of the ACC's RSN affiliates were part of Fox Sports Networks , these events were initially billed as Fox Sports telecasts (with football and basketball using the standard Fox College Football and Fox College Hoops branding respectively). With the acquisition of FSN by Sinclair Broadcast Group and their rebranding in late-March 2021,

2583-640: The backing of ABC, ESPN's ability to compete for major sports contracts greatly increased, and gave it credibility within the sports broadcasting industry. Later that year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma (1984) that the NCAA could no longer monopolize the rights to negotiate the contracts for college football games, allowing each school to negotiate broadcast deals on their own. ESPN took full advantage and began to broadcast

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2646-399: The banner Raycom/JP Sports. In 2004, Jefferson-Pilot's ACC football package (which began in 1984) was also moved under Raycom/JP Sports. Jefferson-Pilot was acquired by Lincoln National Corporation in 2006, who would in turn sell its media assets to Raycom in 2006. In 2010, ESPN acquired the rights to ACC basketball and football, but continued to sublicense games to Raycom Sports to continue

2709-458: The broadcasting and sports broadcasting divisions with it. JP Sports became Lincoln Financial Sports, thereby renaming the joint venture Raycom/LF Sports. Lincoln announced the sale of its media assets to Raycom Media in November 2007, making Raycom Sports the sole producer of all ACC projects and, from January 2008 until March 2009, SEC men's basketball and football. In 2010, ESPN acquired rights to ACC football and basketball, replacing Raycom. In

2772-428: The channel as "ESPN Classic" in 1998. The channel broadcast notable archived sporting events (originally including events from earlier decades, but later focusing mainly on events from the 1990s and later), as well as sports documentaries and sports-themed movies. It was discontinued on December 31, 2021. The Longhorn Network was a subscription television network that launched on August 26, 2011, focusing on events from

2835-423: The company from Bill Rasmussen on February 22, 1979, in an attempt to diversify the company's holdings. This helped the credibility of the fledgling company; however, there were still many doubters about the viability of their sports channel concept. Another event that helped build ESPN's credibility was securing an advertising agreement with Anheuser-Busch in the spring of 1979; the company invested $ 1 million to be

2898-443: The deal, they were rebranded under the new on-air title ACC Network . As part of the agreement, Raycom also agreed to operate the ACC's website and digital properties. It was suggested that ESPN agreed to Raycom's involvement, so it would not create conflicts with the SEC Network — ESPN Regional Television 's then-new package of syndicated Southeastern Conference football and basketball games, established after ESPN replaced Raycom as

2961-437: The highest-rated NFL telecasts for the next 17 years (before losing the rights to NBC in 2006). The channel's decision to broadcast NFL games on Sunday evenings resulted in a decline in viewership for the daytime games shown on the major broadcast networks, marking the first time that ESPN had been a legitimate competitor to NBC and CBS, which had long dominated the sports television market. In 1992, ESPN launched ESPN Radio ,

3024-548: The impact of COVID-19 on its business, Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek indicated during a 4th quarter fiscal year 2021 earnings conference that the company would increase its presence in online sports betting, including in partnership with third parties. In 2023, The Pat McAfee Show moved to ESPN as part of a five-year $ 85 million deal. The show replaced the Noon ET airing of SportsCenter and This Just In with Max Kellerman . Since September 2006, ESPN has been integrated with

3087-547: The network's success, criticism of ESPN includes accusations of biased coverage, conflict of interest , and controversies with individual broadcasters and analysts. Bill Rasmussen came up with the concept of ESPN in May 1978, after he was fired from his job with the World Hockey Association 's New England Whalers . Rasmussen and his ESPN co-founder Ed Eagan, joined by Rasmussen's son Scott (who had also been let go by

3150-439: The new channel, the "ACC Network" branding during its syndicated telecasts was phased out in 2018. Although ESPN will continue to subcontract Raycom Sports resources for the new channel, Raycom's final syndicated ACC telecast—the 2019 ACC men's basketball championship game —aired March 16, 2019. ACC men's basketball had been broadcast by Raycom/JP Sports, a joint venture of Raycom Sports and Jefferson-Pilot Teleproductions, since

3213-654: The resignation of John Skipper on December 18, 2017. As of December 2023 , ESPN is available to approximately 70 million pay television households in the United States—down from its 2011 peak of 100 million households. It operates regional channels in Africa, Australia, Latin America, and the Netherlands. In Canada, it owns a 20% interest in The Sports Network (TSN) and its five sister networks. Despite

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3276-554: The rights to broadcast coverage of the early rounds of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament . It first aired its games in March 1980, helping bring attention to what is today known as " March Madness ". The channel's tournament coverage also launched the broadcasting career of Dick Vitale , who at the time he joined ESPN had just been fired as head coach of the Detroit Pistons . In April of that year ESPN began televising

3339-438: The seven Stanley Cup Finals to both ESPN and ABC. All other nationally televised games would air on TBS and TNT under a separate deal the league struck with Turner Sports the following month. On August 8, 2023, ESPN and Penn Entertainment announced a deal to brand Penn's sportsbooks with ESPN branding. Penn's existing Barstool Sportsbook would be rebranded as ESPN Bet in fall 2023. On February 6, 2024, ESPN announced

3402-402: The sports division of sister broadcast network ABC , with sports events televised on that network airing under the banner ESPN on ABC ; much of ABC's sports coverage since the rebranding has become increasingly limited to secondary coverage of sporting events whose broadcast rights are held by ESPN (such as NBA games, NHL games, and the X Games and its related qualifying events) as well as

3465-427: The sports network had been terminated, among them athletes-turned-analysts Trent Dilfer and Danny Kanell , and noted journalists like NFL beat reporter Ed Werder and Major League Baseball expert Jayson Stark . Further cost-cutting measures taken included moving the studio operations of ESPNU to Bristol from Charlotte, North Carolina , reducing its longtime MLB studio show Baseball Tonight to Sundays as

3528-456: The syndicated package, which was relaunched under the ACC Network brand. Broadcast games were shown locally on over-the-air broadcast stations , regional sports networks , as well as streaming on ESPN3 and WatchESPN . In July 2016, ESPN announced an extension of its contract and plans to launch an ACC cable channel of the same name in 2019, and took ownership of the ACC rights that were previously sublicensed to Raycom. In anticipation of

3591-627: The telecasts began to use the Raycom Sports branding for the final season. Raycom Sports will continue its role as the ACC's in-house digital media partner, and ESPN will subcontract production resources from Raycom Sports for the new channel. Raycom's final syndicated ACC telecast was the 2019 ACC men's basketball tournament final. Raycom Sports continues to produce select ACC games, however instead of being syndicated to OTA stations, these games were first syndicated to regional sports networks . Bally Sports —the package's charter affiliate—dropped

3654-508: The telecasts transitioned to using Bally Sports' on-air presentation. In August 2022, Bally and Raycom agreed to move 11 women’s basketball tournament early-round games and 12 baseball tournament early-round games, which previously aired as part of the package, to the ACC Network . In June 2023, as part of the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group , Bally dropped the ACC RSN package. A month later, Raycom announced an agreement with The CW to carry

3717-522: The television rights to major sports events contracts as its majority corporate parent would not provide the funding, leading ESPN to lose out for broadcast deals with the National Hockey League (to USA Network ) and NCAA Division I college football (to TBS ). For years, the NFL , NBA , and Major League Baseball refused to consider cable as a means of broadcasting some of their games. However, with

3780-431: Was a syndicated package of college sports telecasts featuring football and basketball events from the Atlantic Coast Conference , produced by Raycom Sports , the sports syndication unit of Montgomery, Alabama -based Raycom Media (now owned by Gray Television ). The package stemmed from a joint venture between Raycom and Jefferson-Pilot Teleproductions , which acquired the rights to ACC basketball in 1982 under

3843-438: Was discontinued with the service's full merger into the ESPN app. ESPN Regional Television (formerly branded as ESPN Plus) is the network's syndication arm, which produces collegiate sporting events for free-to-air television stations throughout the United States (primarily those affiliated with networks such as The CW and MyNetworkTV or independent stations ). ESPN Plus syndicates college football and basketball games from

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3906-511: Was sent to ESPN employees instructing them to avoid any political discussions regarding the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong in the aftermath of a tweet by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey . ESPN has won 232 Sports Emmy Awards in 35 years of eligibility. In 2024, ESPN apologized for submitting fake names for Sports Emmy award consideration over many years, and returned 37 trophies that had been awarded to ineligible recipients to

3969-463: Was then acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 1996 and was re-branded as Walt Disney Television . Challenges began to appear in the 2000s. ESPN began to shed viewers, more than 10 million over a period of several years in the 2010s even while paying large sums of money for the broadcast rights to properties like the NFL, NBA and College Football Playoff . On April 26, 2017, approximately 100 ESPN employees were notified that their positions with

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