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ESPN getting out of the cell phone business

MichiganMichigan Posts: 4,942 ✭
in Sports Talk
It just wasen't working out. How many people want to buy a cellphone in order to get "exclusive" sports content to read on a tiny screen? Not me. The are going to try and sell the info to an already established provider.


No more of those dorky TV commercials with that idiot outside of the ESPN building raving about how great the
cell phone is.

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    ToppsCo1lectorToppsCo1lector Posts: 2,633
    I was positive it was Sprint affiliated. Guess I'm way off. Stupid idea anyway.
    Collecting;
    Mark Mulder rookies
    Chipper Jones rookies
    Orlando Cabrera rookies
    Lawrence Taylor
    Sam Huff
    Lavar Arrington
    NY Giants
    NY Yankees
    NJ Nets
    NJ Devils
    1950s-1960s Topps NY Giants Team cards

    Looking for Topps rookies as well.

    References:
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    MichiganMichigan Posts: 4,942 ✭


    << <i>I was positive it was Sprint affiliated. Guess I'm way off. Stupid idea anyway. >>




    It probably was and they had some kind of distribution deal with them, would make sense anyway.

    It was a dumb idea, they miscalculated the number of really hard core sports fans that would
    want something like this.
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    gosteelersgosteelers Posts: 2,668 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I was positive it was Sprint affiliated. Guess I'm way off. Stupid idea anyway. >>




    It probably was and they had some kind of distribution deal with them, would make sense anyway.

    It was a dumb idea, they miscalculated the number of really hard core sports fans that would
    want something like this. >>



    I have one and personally like it. I was traveling most of last weekend and felt it was a great way to catch up on scores, etc., when you're in the car or if you don't have access to a computer...

    Edited to say: it's no more or less than any other service, so why wouldn't you choose one that has the sports services?
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    ConnecticoinConnecticoin Posts: 12,542 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It took them long enough to cut their losses. I bet a dozen or so heads will roll from this debacle.

    Now they can work on a replacement for Cornheiser on MNF!!
    *For Sale on BST* *For Sale on Ebay*
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    AxtellAxtell Posts: 10,037 ✭✭
    Kornheiser is great on MNF...he's not overbearing like that moron Theismann.

    As far as ESPN mobile goes, it was affiliated with sprint in that they used sprints network for the cell phone side of it...but $40 or $50 bucks a month for sports content was a bad business model. In just under a year they've managed to grab just 30k subscribers.

    The disney phones for kids have been just about as big a bust.
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    stevekstevek Posts: 27,771 ✭✭✭✭✭
    <<< How many people want to buy a cellphone in order to get "exclusive" sports content to read on a tiny screen? >>>


    As far as "how many" - evidently not enough for them to profit. As far as "who" - no doubt in my mind it was addicted gamblers betting on sports that was their target market. I quit gambling but years ago when I was in action, I would have probably bought one of these things. When you've got a dime on a football game, you don't care about the quality of the broadcast, you only care about the up to the second score.
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    AxtellAxtell Posts: 10,037 ✭✭
    but you can get up to the second scores on just about any cell phone provider's handset.
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    stevekstevek Posts: 27,771 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>but you can get up to the second scores on just about any cell phone provider's handset. >>




    Admittedly, I don't know the difference between the two. Perhaps the ESPN thing was a little different in some aspect but not different enough to be worth the cost to most people? I still believe though that addicted gamblers were their primary target market.
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    stownstown Posts: 11,321 ✭✭✭
    I measured my crackberry on espn.com (on auto-refresh) against cbs.sportsline on my computer last night while watching the Cards game.

    Both were on the money and a wash.
    So basically my kid won't be able to go to college, but at least I'll have a set where the three most expensive cards are of a player I despise ~ CDsNuts
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    RickyHendersonSDRickyHendersonSD Posts: 327
    <<The disney phones for kids have been just about as big a bust. >>

    Yeah, you should know. I heard you bought the Dumbo model.
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    gosteelersgosteelers Posts: 2,668 ✭✭✭
    The ESPN service is/was the same as every other provider (averaged $39.99 for x amount of minutes). This included everything sports related except the video highlights pretty much (which I really didn't care about, anyway). Everything else (live box scores, articles, stats, etc.) were included. I actually enjoyed it myself...Especially if you're riding in a car, train, plane and have nothing else to do!
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    gosteelersgosteelers Posts: 2,668 ✭✭✭


    << <i>It took them long enough to cut their losses. I bet a dozen or so heads will roll from this debacle.

    Now they can work on a replacement for Cornheiser on MNF!! >>



    Actually, Kornheiser is one of the best hires MNF could have made. He brings a fresh perspective to the set. He actually questions EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY (even goof ball Theismann, even catching him in a few of his many contradictions within the same game!). Who wants somebody in there that agrees with everything? That's boring to me...
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    AxtellAxtell Posts: 10,037 ✭✭


    << <i><<The disney phones for kids have been just about as big a bust. >>

    Yeah, you should know. I heard you bought the Dumbo model. >>



    Moron, I work in the industry...maybe next time you'll be able to contribute something without flaming?



    << <i>Admittedly, I don't know the difference between the two. Perhaps the ESPN thing was a little different in some aspect but not different enough to be worth the cost to most people? I still believe though that addicted gamblers were their primary target market. >>



    They had 'exclusive' content from ESPN, clips from the shows, etc. but since stats aren't owned by any network, all the cell phone providers get them out at roughly the same speed.

    Good riddance to this phone...the non-stop barrage of those idiotic ads made it tough to watch ESPN.
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