centric programming format which has a lot less to do with sports than it does with television, and, more importantly, who watches television.
This is not only an era of increasing choice, but of the erosion of television viewing. Football fans are a core audience that has stuck with ESPN. They tend to be television watchers, making it easy to leverage other programming from Disney and ABC television through the sport.
The deal is a comfortable way to fill time slots in a 24/7 TV world with football into the summer months of flagging major league baseball and basketball ratings. More important though, is the alternate major league cachet that the deal brings to the AFL.
“The AFL is expressing unprecedented credibility as an emerging major-league sport,” McCloskey says.
“It’s a great time to be a content provider, which all sports are, because of the proliferation of cable, satellite, Internet, broadband and all the other different brands that are out there.”
From 1987 to the late 1990s, what little television exposure that the AFL received came on ESPN, which aired tape-delayed games in the early-morning hours. Their first major TV exposure came in 1998, when Arena Bowl XII was shown nationally on ABC.
The AFL, which had seen a slight ratings drop to 0.8 on NBC, down from 0.9 in 2005, is naturally thrilled by this development.
“It’s the longest television agreement we’ve ever had,” McCloskey says. “It’s beneficial to our fans, our teams and our sponsors. It’s a win-win-win, for ESPN, the AFL and the fans.”
McCloskey said the league received 14 official letters of interest from various networks and stations, and its board of directors voted on ESPN in December.
“We’re thrilled to be with ESPN.”
The AFL is also shopping a Friday night regional package, with the NFL Network reportedly interested.
ESPN’s Jay Rothman, who produces the Monday Night Football package, will oversee the AFL production.
“Jay and his team will look to come up with new and innovative things, like camera angles, the use of Sky Cam, miking players and coaches during games,” Hofheimer says. “The league is open to doing a lot of different things.”
Announcers have not yet been named.
It was a busy December for the network. In addition to the AFL deal, ESPN acquired BASS, a for-profit fishing organization that hosts the Bassmaster Classic tournament, acquired rights to the UEFA European Football Championship and entered into an agreement with the Tribeca Film Festival to launch the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival, which will showcase independent sports films.
ESPN has developed in-house the X-Games to attract alternative sports fans in 1994, and assisted NASCAR with developing title sponsors for racing series.
In its first season carrying NFL games on MNF, ESPN averaged a 9.9 rating and 12.3 million viewers. Network executives believe that having 15 different media platforms, including ESPN Radio, in which to promote or display Arena football, will help drive ratings skyward.
ESPN’s coverage of the AFL will conclude on Sunday, July 29 with ArenaBowl XXI from New Orleans, marking the first national championship staged there since the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.
That’s just in time for ESPN to turn its attention back to NFL preseason games.
“The Arena Football League is going to fill the void for a lot of people,” Hofheimer says. “We can’t wait.”
See also: "One Football. Two Games," MAJOR BLOGS, 01.23.07
<<BACK | 1 | 2 | NEXT>>
