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List of ESPN sports broadcasting rights

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American cable sports channel ESPN has held numerous broadcasting rights for live and tape-delayed sporting events across many different sports in various levels of competition. ESPN was first launched in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen as a 24-hour national sports network dedicated to live sports and highlights.[1]

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Top to bottom: Logos for ESPN, ESPN on ABC, and ESPN+

In 1984, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) purchased ESPN from Rasmussen and Getty Oil.[2] Initially, ABC Sports and ESPN operated as separate entities. However, ESPN started to integrate into ABC Sports once The Walt Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC in 1996. During this time, ESPN and ABC began to jointly bid on sports broadcasting rights with ESPN airing and producing games for ABC under a time-buy agreement. This integration was fully completed in August 2006, when ABC fully adopted ESPN's production staff, music, graphics, and broadcast rights. ESPN sports broadcasts that air on ABC now air under the branding ESPN on ABC.[3][4]

As ESPN has acquired more sports rights, it has launched more linear channels and outlets to help broadcast sports. ESPN launched ESPN2 in 1993 initially as a youthful alternative to ESPN, but now serves as a secondary general sports channel to the main ESPN network.[5] ESPNews was founded in 1996, serving as an overflow feed with limited live sports. ESPNU was launched in 2005 as a channel focused on college athletics with select ancillary general sports programming.[6] Both the SEC Network and ACC Network were launched by ESPN as specialty channels for Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) sports, respectively.[7][8] ESPN also offers Spanish-language sports broadcasts through ESPN Deportes.[9]

ESPN also broadcasts sports on online streaming platforms. ESPN3 previously served as the main streaming provider of ESPN games, which included exclusive programming and ancillary content.[10] ESPN later launched its own over-the-top subscription streaming service named ESPN+ in 2018, which saw much of ESPN3's content moved to ESPN+ along with its own games exclusive to the service.[11][12] ESPN+ also streams some ESPN on ABC telecasts. Both the SEC Network and ACC Network have online streaming components to their networks in SEC Network+ (SECN+) and ACC Network Extra (ACCNX), respectively.

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Current rights

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Professional sports

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Collegiate sports

Conference sports

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Collegiate tournaments

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Sources:[171][172]

Bowl games

ESPN currently holds broadcasting rights for the majority of college football bowl games. Broadcast rights for bowl games are negotiated directly with the bowl game's organizer. All bowl games are aired on either ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2.[173]

More information Bowl game, Release ...

Source:[184]

: Indicates a bowl game as part of the College Football Playoff.

Other individual games

Amateur sports

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Future rights

Professional sports

More information Sport, League / Governing Body ...
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Former rights

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Professional sports

More information Sport, League / Governing Body ...

Collegiate sports

Conference sports

More information Division, Conference ...

Individual teams

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References

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