Company Case ESPN: The Evolution of an Entertainment Brand
I the 2004 movie Anchorman character Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) auditions for a position on SportsCentre with the very new and little known network, ESPN ( Entertainment and Sports Programming Network). The year was 1979. After pronouncing the name of the network “Espen,” he then is shocked to find out that ESPN is a round-the-clock sports network. Through his laughter, he asserts that the concept is as ridiculous as a 24-hour cooking network or an all-music channel. “Seriously,” he shouts. “This thing is going to be a financial and cultural disaster. SportsCenter . . . that’s just dumb!”
While this comical is fictitious, when a young college graduate named George Bodenheimer took a job in the mailroom at ESPN it 1982, it was for real. Today, Mr. Bodenheirmer is president of the network that has become one of the biggest franchise in sports, not to mention one of the most successful and envied brands in the entertainment world. As a cable network, ESPN commands $2.91 from cable operations for each subscriber every month. Compare that to $1.67 for Fox Sports, 89 cents for TNT, and only 40 cents for CNN. The core ESPN channel alone is currently in more than 96 million homes. With that kind of Premium power, it’s no wonder that ESPN shocked the world in 2006 by becoming the first cable network to land the coveted TV contract for Monday Night Football, which went on to become the highest rated series ever.
But even with three sibling channels (ESPN2,ESPNEWS,and ESPN Classic) the ESPN cable networks is only one piece of a bigger brand puzzle that has become Bodenheimer’s 6 billion sports empire. Through very savvy strategic palnning. Bodenheirmer is realizing his vision of taking quality sports content across the widest possible collection of media assets to reach sports fan wherever they may be. Employing a hands-off management style. Bodenheimer has cultivated a brand that is brash, tech savvy,...
