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After a landmark year that saw the company close rights deals with the NHL, MLB, NFL and more, ESPN is looking to expand further by reaching untapped audiences through a more robust content offering.
“A big focus of ours also continues to be expanding our audience, and this means increasing our efforts to reach younger, female, multicultural and casual fans–in addition to, of course, core sports fans,” ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro said today during a virtual Disney Sports Summit upfront presentation for advertisers.
ESPN is up 30% in total day viewership and 42% in primetime this year, but Pitaro thinks there’s still more room for expansion.
“Live sports are a differentiator, it’s that simple,” he said. “They’re the needle mover.”
More NFL games
ESPN spent a significant amount of time during its presentation highlighting the strength of the NFL. Disney and the league reached a rights deal last year that kept ESPN the home of Monday Night Football, and added simulcasts on ABC. The broadcast network will also have its first Super Bowl since 2006, airing the game in 2027 and 2031.
“In terms of our NFL deal in general, we secured a lot: 35% more games, additional postseason, an enhanced schedule and exclusive ESPN+ content,” said Pitaro.
Two weeks ago, the company landed Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, who are moving over from Fox and will team up with Lisa Salters to call Monday Night Football. This past season, the MNF wild card game was the most-watched ever on ESPN.
“Monday Night Football advertisers were more likely to see increased brand metrics, over non-football viewers,” said Laura Rutledge, host of NFL Live. “Our biggest advertisers on Monday Night saw massive increases in brand metrics across ad awareness, consideration, attention and more.”
The company pointed to the strength of its college football slate, noting that this past opening weekend over 67 million viewers tuned into an ESPN network. According to Rutledge, top college football advertisers saw over a 72% lift in ad awareness compared to non-college fans.
Growing NHL ratings
As the Stanley Cup playoffs approach, the company highlighted the success of the NHL on its platforms, the first time NHL games have appeared on ESPN in 17 years. Viewers can stream 75 regular-season games on ESPN+ and Hulu, with ESPN+ being the exclusive home for all out-of-market games.
The league has been successful on linear, too, with 25 national games appearing on ESPN and ABC. And Stanley Cup playoffs through finals will be on ABC, with the finals on the broadcast network during alternating years.
“Our ratings are up 25% over last year I think over 30% of the prior year, we had our most-viewed opening night on ESPN I think ever. It’s exciting to see ESPN+ in 21+ million homes,” said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. “Coming back to ESPN has put us in a position where we’re more in the mainstream … we’re being promoted every night and that’s really been great for our fans.”
When it comes to rights deals, ESPN+ is playing an increasingly-important role at the company.
“We’ve been laser focused on ESPN+, including several deals where + is the primary component, as was the case with the NHL,” said Pitaro.
ESPN+ added 4.2 million subscribers last quarter to hit 21.3 million total subscribers.
The power of women’s sports
As women’s sports steadily grow in popularity, ESPN highlighted its women’s initiatives and the strength of its women’s sports programming slate.
According to Deidra Maddock, vp, sports brands solutions for Disney Advertising, women’s sports viewing on ESPN has grown 26% to over 72 million viewers, with viewership split 53% men and 47% women.
ESPN just wrapped a record-breaking Women’s NCAA Women’s Division I tournament, the first year the NCAA allowed the women’s side to use the March Madness branding. ESPN took full advantage of the opportunity and unveiled its most expansive coverage of the tournament yet, which paid off throughout the month.
The selection show was up 160% year-over-year, with the most-watched Elite Eight round and game in more than a decade. The championship matchup between UConn and South Carolina reached 4.9 million viewers, up 18% year-over-year and the most-watched women’s national championship since 2004. The company also sold out the advertising inventory for the tournament nearly a month before competition began.
Maddock said the company is working to build on that momentum across the Disney sports universe. The networks will now have over 12,600 live women’s sporting events totaling more than 26,000 hours of coverage, including an expanded WNBA postseason, more NCAA championships than ever before, and 40% of programming on ESPN+ dedicated to women’s sports.
That approach is attracting brands as well. Google has teamed up with Disney for the WNBA regular season and playoffs, and State Farm signed on as the game sponsor for ESPN Fantasy Women’s Basketball, the first season-long fantasy game dedicated to a major women’s sport.
Developing original programming
ESPN also touted its slate of original programming across the networks and ESPN+.
We’re aiming to serve our fans around the world with international offerings … and we’re moving into a wider array of formats: documentaries, scripted series, lifestyle, comedic programming and more, all to appeal to the widest variety of fans,” said Brian Lockhart, svp of original content and ESPN Films.
The company launched two new franchises over the past year: Places and Man in the Arena. The latter, featuring Tom Brady, is ESPN+’s most-watched original series, and Lockhart said the company will be expanding both franchises. Earlier today, Disney also made the series available on sibling streamers Hulu and Disney+.
ESPN is planning to use original content to further attract diverse audiences, pointing to the next installment of Why Not Us that follows The Fabulous Dancing Dolls of Southern University.
The company also unveiled Fifty/50, a new storytelling initiative that celebrates equality for women in sports. The initiative is headlined by film projects Dram On, a tribute to the 1996 U.S. Women’s Olympic basketball team and 37 Words, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
“Across ESPN Original Content, there’s one key principle that guides us,” said Lockhart. “Diversity in storytelling is our strength. That means a diversity of subject matter, of voices, of different ways to tell a story.”
Intersection of Black culture and sports
ESPN recently rebranded its sports, race and culture vertical The Undefeated as Andscape.
“As a part of that rebranding, we’ve widened our lens by exploring the intersections of Black and everything,” said Pitaro. “The brand reflects our new vision of providing our community with expansive coverage of all elements of the Black experience.”
Pitaro said the goal of Andscape is to engage consumers, beginning with Gen Z and millennials, through a multi-hyphenate portfolio that includes a daily hub, both a website and social experience, content studios across publishing, film and music, retail products and community experiences.
The Disney Sports Summit was one of several upfront events for marketers, leading up to its in-person upfront week return on Tuesday, May 17 at New York’s Pier 36.
