Latest in ESPN

Former ESPN President John Skipper, who led the effort to secure the current NBA rights deal, says incumbents Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have no choice but to re-up with the league. “These are existential rights for ESPN,” he said during an episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, a podcast…

The NBA roared back onto the airwaves Wednesday night giving ESPN its most-watched opening night in 11 years. With an average audience of 2.8M across the first two games of the season, ESPN saw 80% growth over the viewership for last year’s opening night (around 1.5M), according to Nielsen. It also…

I think Walt would be grumpy. This is the week when the media celebrates the Magic Kingdom's 100th birthday, but Walt Disney were around today, I think he'd cringe at the state of guild negotiations, fights with politicians and jumps in theme park prices (or streamer fees). Having gained…

Disney offered a first glimpse under ESPN’s hood ahead of earnings next month when it plans to break out Sports as its own business segment — part of a restructuring initiated by CEO Bob Iger. The new division saw revenue of $13.2 billion and operating income of close to $1.5 billion for the first…

UPDATED: The Philadelphia Eagles are undefeated no more, after the team lost to the New York Jets on Sunday. About 26.09M people tuned in to watch that matchup on Fox, scoring the broadcaster the biggest audience of the week and of the NFL season. In fact, this game marks most-watched program on any…

Barry Melrose, who has served as an NHL analyst at ESPN for nearly three decades and coached Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings to the Stanley Cup Final in 1993, has retired from the network after a Parkinson’s diagnosis. “I’ve had over 50 extraordinary years playing, coaching and analyzing the…

UPDATED: The San Francisco 49ers defeat of the Dallas Cowboys is without a doubt the talk of the town for Week 5 of the NFL regular season. Sunday night’s matchup on NBC drew 24.3M viewers on linear TV — which rose to 26.3M when streaming viewership was factored in. That was by far the most-watched…

UPDATED: Coming off one of its wildest seasons in years, the NHL’s 2023-24 schedule kicks off tonight with an intriguing opening-night tripleheader on ESPN. Check out some key dates and matchups for the league’s 107th season — including a night when all 32 NHL teams will be in action — below. ESPN…

The Red River Rivalry dominated the airwaves during Week 6 of the College Football season on Saturday. About 7.9M people tuned in across ABC and ESPN2 as the Oklahoma Sooners defeated the Texas Longhorns, marking the largest audience for that matchup since 2009. But, the Alabama-Texas A&M game…

A federal judge in California ruled today that a class action antitrust lawsuit against Disney can go forward, though he struck down a chunk of the case, which was filed last fall. A group of YouTube TV subscribers claimed among other things that the company's business deals with competitors have…

Don’t adjust the tint on your television if you’re watching ESPN’s College GameDay today. Cohost Pat McAfee really is green. McAfee admitted to throwing up into a trash can during the commercial breaks of today’s show. Food poisoning is being blamed. The off-camera ralphing was revealed by Kirk…

For the second consecutive week, the Colorado Buffaloes played in the most-watched college football game of the season. This time, however, the Buffaloes were not able to take home a win on the field. More than 10M people tuned in to watch Colorado take on Oregon, which ultimately won 41-6. Colorado…