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34-495: The tour was televised in half-hour "Streetball" segments on ESPN2 , and were compiled into highlight reels, offered under the mark AND1 Mixtape, which were sold on DVD . AND1 has released 10 volumes. The first mixtape was AND1 Mixtape Volume 1 (1998) and the most recent is AND1 Mixtape X (2008). The AND1 team has toured the world, meeting success against most international teams and scoring wins over adversaries from places as diverse as Chile and Angola, remaining undefeated outside

68-456: A documentary special called This is SportsCenter , in which ESPN showed a documentary showing the production of an edition of SportsCenter , while the finished product aired on ESPN2. The documentary would usually air for two hours, where the first hour would cover the preliminary production of the night's show on ESPN, while ESPN2 aired ESPN's regular programming. The second hour usually spent time at production control while covering reaction to

102-516: A more informal and youthful presentation than the main network. By the late 1990s, this mandate was phased out, as the channel increasingly became a second outlet for ESPN's mainstream sports coverage. As of December 2023 , ESPN2 is available to approximately 70 million pay television households in the United States—down from its 2011 peak of 100 million households. ESPN2 launched on October 1, 1993, at 7:30 p.m. ET . Its inaugural program

136-502: A scheduling conflict with CBS's coverage of the Big Ten championship game . As a result, CBS aired the SEC championship on its affiliates in the markets of the teams involved, while ESPN2 aired a simulcast of the game in the rest of the country. ESPN2 has occasionally been used to carry simulcasts of ESPN Deportes' Spanish-language coverage of events, in an effort to promote the channel and improve

170-405: A while provided a simulcast of ESPN Deportes ' edition of SportsCenter on Sundays. In return, ESPN2 programming is often seen on ESPN during blackouts of games in certain markets. ESPN2 also often carries SportsCenter at times when the broadcast on ESPN is delayed by a sporting event that overruns into one of the program's scheduled timeslots. ESPN and ESPN2 also jointly aired two episodes of

204-586: Is a live game presentation of college football on ESPN2. The channel airs the Canadian Football League playoffs, including the season-ending Grey Cup , simulcasting from their Canadian partner TSN . The channel has also become ESPN's home for tennis coverage. The showpieces are three of the "Grand Slam" tournaments: the Australian Open , Wimbledon and the US Open . U.S.-based tournaments, including

238-460: Is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc. , a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially formatted as a younger-skewing counterpart to its parent network ESPN , with a focus on sports popular among young adult audiences (ranging from mainstream events to other unconventional sports), and carrying

272-487: The 2017 NFL season through 2020 , ESPN2 simulcast ESPN Deportes' Spanish-language broadcasts of Monday Night Football during the first nine weeks of the season, including its pre-game show NFL Esta Noche , and ESPN Latin America 's SportsCenter from Mexico City after the game. ESPN2 had largely scheduled filler programming against MNF until November, when it begins its Monday-night college basketball coverage . In

306-676: The 2Night banner, such as NFL 2Night , NHL 2Night , and RPM 2Night . Event coverage would focus on coverage of mainstream sports popular within the 18–34 age demographic, such as auto racing, college basketball and NHL hockey (where, beginning in the 1993–94 season , it aired up to five games per week under the title NHL Fire on Ice ), while also covering atypical sports such as BMX and other extreme sports . ESPN2 would also be used to showcase new technology and experimental means of broadcasting events: on September 18, 1994, ESPN2 simulcast CART 's Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix using only onboard camera feeds. In 1995, ESPN2 introduced

340-819: The ATP Masters 1000 events at Indian Wells and Miami , as well as the US Open Series , were also previously broadcast on the channel. Most of ESPN's soccer output has been broadcast on ESPN2, including Major League Soccer , Premier League and La Liga matches; the channel also broadcast the United States' FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 2009. ESPN2 formerly broadcast matches of the UEFA Champions League , until rights for that tournament moved to Fox Soccer and its sister networks. In 2003, ESPN2 began broadcasting Major League Lacrosse games. In March 2007, ESPN2 and

374-636: The East–West Shrine Game , much of the 2006 World Baseball Classic , many Major League Soccer games, NCAA football games, NCAA basketball games, the WNBA , the Arena Football League , regular-season KHL games, and Saturday-afternoon NASCAR Nationwide Series races. In 2011, ESPN2 also acquired broadcast rights to delayed coverage for some American Le Mans Series events, with series' major events airing on ABC . ESPN2 College Football Primetime

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408-415: The " BottomLine ", a persistent news ticker which displayed sports news and scores. The BottomLine would later be adopted by ESPN itself and all of its future properties. In the late 1990s, ESPN2 began to phase out its youth-oriented format, and transitioned to becoming a secondary outlet for ESPN's mainstream sports programming; telecasts began to adopt a more conventional style, and the "graffiti 2" logo

442-606: The 2021 season, the Spanish simulcast of MNF was replaced with Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli (colloquially known as the " Manningcast "), which is hosted by Eli and Peyton Manning , and features appearances by other celebrity guests. ESPN2 broadcasts in high definition in the 720p resolution format, which was launched in January 2005. In January 2011, the separate ESPN2HD branding began to be phased out, as in May of that year,

476-643: The ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut and was renamed ESPN First Take . After ESPN became part of a new broadcast contract with the association, ESPN2 also premiered the new daily show NASCAR Now (similar to the previous RPM 2Night , except only focusing on NASCAR) in February 2007. Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith , a program that featured interviews with popular sports figures, had averaged extremely low ratings, and had also faced several timeslot changes, until it

510-850: The Ipswich BMX Club, which still provides coaching and races on a regular basis. In April 1981, the International BMX Federation was founded, and the first world championships were held in 1982. Since January 1993, BMX has been integrated into the Union Cycliste Internationale . In 2003, the International Olympic Committee made BMX a medal Olympic sport for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing , China , and Māris Štrombergs (male, for Latvia ) and Anne-Caroline Chausson (female, for France ) became

544-442: The availability of the telecasts (as ESPN2 is available in a significantly larger number of homes than ESPN Deportes), while also reducing the need to counterprogram with lesser-viewed programs. Examples since 2016 have included NBA Christmas Day games , the 2017 World Baseball Classic (whose English rights were exclusively held by MLB Network ), and an International Champions Cup game between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. From

578-688: The channel would shift to using the AFD #10 flag to transmit the channel's standard-definition feed in letterboxed widescreen , mirroring the display of the high-definition feed, with the SD feed eventually phased out to allow downscaling of the HD feed for the standard-definition channel. BMX BMX , an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross , is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes , either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX , or else in general street or off-road recreation. BMX began during

612-494: The continental United States until they lost to the debuting Puerto Rico Streetballers in 2012. AND1's calling card and large reason for success are the flashy moves that rely on a more lenient set of rules than in regulation basketball. This has led to comparisons with the Harlem Globetrotters and has caused some journalists to criticize the tour. Supporters of the tour have responded by backing up AND1's credibility and

646-527: The dominant bicycle for the younger rider, with older teenagers and even adults becoming known names through publications like BMX Bi-Weekly , featuring big names like Tim March and Andy Ruffell. The shift to freestyle from racing came in 1985 with popular styling moving from chrome frames and contrasting components in black blue or red being the norm, to brightly coloured bikes in one colour only, including their magnesium alloy wheels and even matching tyres. Because BMX exploded into Britain's streets so suddenly, it

680-458: The early 1970s in the United States when children began racing their bicycles on dirt tracks in southern California , inspired by the motocross stars of the time. The size and availability of the Schwinn Sting-Ray and other wheelie bikes made them the natural bike of choice for these races, since they were easily customized for better handling and performance. BMX racing was a phenomenon by

714-708: The lack of BMX organizations in the East, which prompted Esser to start the NBL in Florida. By 1977, the American Bicycle Association (ABA) was organized as a national sanctioning body for the growing sport. Freestyle BMX is now one of the staple events at the annual Summer X Games Extreme Sports competition and the Etnies Backyard Jam, held primarily on the East and West coasts of the United States. The popularity of

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748-528: The league agreed on a new broadcast contract that ran until the 2016 season. On October 4, 2017, ESPN announced that it had acquired rights to the Formula One World Championship ; the majority of the races are carried by ESPN2. The NHL returned to ESPN in the 2021–22 season ; ESPN2 primarily serves as a secondary broadcaster during the Stanley Cup playoffs . ESPN2's former flagship show,

782-500: The mid-1970s. Children were racing standard road bikes off-road around purpose-built tracks in California. The motorcycle racing documentary On Any Sunday (1971) is generally credited with inspiring the movement nationally in the United States; its opening scene shows kids riding their Sting-Rays off-road. By the middle of that decade, the sport achieved critical mass , and manufacturers began creating bicycles designed especially for

816-451: The morning sports/entertainment program Cold Pizza , achieved minimal success and saw several format and host changes. In January 2006, it was supplanted by the television simulcast of ESPN Radio 's Mike and Mike in the Morning (which moved from ESPNews ) and moved to a later time slot (10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time). In May 2007, Cold Pizza moved from New York City to

850-510: The night's developments. On March 16, 2008, ESPN2 aired CBS-produced coverage of the SEC men's basketball championship game in most of the country. A tornado had damaged the original game site, the Georgia Dome , causing the remainder of the tournament to be rescheduled and re-located to the smaller Alexander Memorial Coliseum . However, the new, later tip-off time for the SEC championship created

884-476: The original film— was a follow-up to a similar marathon aired by ESPNU the previous year. ESPN2 has also simulcast many game telecasts with ESPN, usually as a part of a "Full Circle" or "Megacast" broadcast, which covers a single event across ESPN platforms with different forms of coverage (such as different camera angles and features). ESPN2 also simulcasts some programming from ESPNews, often during local blackouts of scheduled national game telecasts, and for

918-580: The players' legitimate skill. The AND1 players maintain that they are serious basketball players who play against the seven best local players from each city. Many of the current and former AND1 Mixtape Tour players have played in college and in professional organizations such as the CBL , ABA , NBDL , NBA or overseas. Official MC of the Tour: Emcee Rell Additional AND1 Mixtape Volumes ESPN2 ESPN2

952-502: The sport has increased due to its relative ease and availability of places to ride and do tricks. In the UK, BMX was a craze which took off in the early 1980s, specifically 1982 and 1983, when the BMX bike became the must-have bicycle for children and teenagers. The 1983 cult movie BMX Bandits helped establish the sport further worldwide. Previously a small niche area, BMX exploded at this time into

986-545: The sport. In 1974, George E. Esser founded the National Bicycle League as a non-profit bicycle motocross sanctioning organization. Before they set up the NBL, Esser and his wife, Mary, sanctioned motorcycle races with the American Motocross Association (AMA). Their two sons, Greg and Brian, raced motorcycles, but also enjoyed riding and racing BMX with their friends. It was their sons' interest, and

1020-690: Was also reflected in its overall presentation, which featured a graffiti -themed logo and on-air graphics. Its initial lineup featured studio programs such as SportsNight —which host Keith Olbermann characterized as a "lighter" parallel to ESPN's SportsCenter that would still be "comprehensive, thorough and extremely skeptical", Talk2 —a nightly talk show hosted by Jim Rome that was billed as an equivalent to CNN 's Larry King Live , Max Out —an extreme sports anthology series carried over from ESPN, and SportsSmash —a five-minute recap of sports headlines which aired every half-hour. ESPN2 also carried several half-hour, sport-specific studio programs under

1054-793: Was dropped in 2001 in favor of a version of ESPN's main logo. On-screen graphics (such as the BottomLine) used a blue color scheme instead of red to differentiate them from ESPN. Since February 12, 2007, the ESPN2 brand has been used for station identification only, with all programming using the same on-air presentation and ESPN branding as those on the main network. Sports events presented on ESPN2 originally tended to be alternative sports such as poker , billiards , lumberjacking , extreme sports and, more recently, drum and bugle corps . However, in recent years ESPN2 has broadcast increasingly more mainstream sporting events, including Major League Baseball games,

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1088-479: Was finally canceled in January 2007. On August 20, 2019, the ESPNews sports betting studio show Daily Wager (now ESPN Bet Live ) was moved to ESPN2. On August 8, 2018, ESPN2 stunted as " ESPN8: The Ocho "—an homage to a fictitious eighth ESPN channel portrayed in the 2004 film DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story , dedicated to unconventional and obscure sporting events. The event—which also included airings of

1122-485: Was perhaps inevitable that it would implode with similar speed, when the children who rode the bikes left school and went to work. By 1986–1987, sales in the UK had dropped off dramatically, with the new all-terrain bike or mountain bike (another trend from mid-1970s California) taking off, soon to become the most popular adult bicycle. In 1980, the first BMX track in the UK was founded in Landseer Park , Ipswich , by

1156-414: Was the premiere of SportsNight , a sports news program originally hosted by Keith Olbermann and Suzy Kolber ; Olbermann opened the show and the channel by jokingly welcoming viewers to "the end of our careers." Launching with an estimated carriage of about 10 million homes, and nicknamed "The Deuce", ESPN2 aimed to be a more informal and youth-oriented channel than parent network ESPN. The youthful image

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