ESPN has lost more than $2 billion because of cord cutting

[Coach Bill Lewis]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/espn-lost-...08592.html

 

[oldguystudent]

Good

[Harry]

If you read the entire article, they point out ESPN revenue is actually up because they are charging those who want to view live TV sports more.

"So, while subscriber revenue is up, at the same time, it could be better, and it looks like their revenue model needs to change.

People still want live sports and they are willing to pay for it. ESPN just needs to figure out a better way than having the bottom line supplemented by people who don’t watch live sports. Because those people have had enough."

[UNTFan23]

Verizon and ESPN got into a little spat up when Verizon tried to offer "slimmed down" channel offerings.

[oldguystudent]

There's a roku-like service Sling TV that lets you get the ESPN channels and some other crap for $20 a month.  I've considered it, but then decided that since cutting the cord in 2009, I just haven't missed watching sports on TV at all.  $20 a month isn't worth watching maybe 5-10 games a year for me, and it certainly won't include MLB (which required a cable subscription if you wanted to purchase post season streaming this year.  Seriously.  F those guys)

Edited December 8, 2015 by oldguystudent

[ColoradoEagle]

Well, the nice thing about Sling is that you can cancel anytime. So if you're a big college football or basketball fan, just subscribe during those seasons. I don't have cable, but I do bum my parents' password for DirecTV since they're on the road 365 days a year and never use it. If that loophole was ever closed, I definitely would sub.

ESPN needs people who don't care about sports paying for the channels. If they were limited to the 25% or so of cable subs who actually watch their content, they'd go bankrupt from the contracts they have out there with the NFL and NBA. In their greed to get as much $ as possible for each subscriber, they lowered the percentage of households who can have cable packages without ESPN when writing up the contracts. That's why you're seeing so many basic bundles that don't include sports channels.

The one who's really screwed is Fox. They've backed themselves into a corner, paying out way too much for rights to local MLB and NBA teams. If the bubble bursts, they're going to be hit the hardest.

[KingDL1]

Espn is the worst thing to happen to sports, good riddance, they can't go way fast enough. They cost too much they want to make stories instead of just reporting sports.