ESPN

ESPN averaged first-day record of 1.7 million viewers for PrimeTime at the U.S. Open (7 p.m. – 12:03 a.m. ET) on Monday, an increase of 279% over last year and up 40% over the previous high in 2019.

As marketer interest in other TV programming declines, demand for pro football continues its upward trajectory and has had a knock-on effect for other leagues like the NBA and NHL.

The entertainment giant depends on the sports network to fund its streaming expansion, but subscriptions are in decline.

Awesome, baby! ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale, whose enthusiastic game calls have been a staple of the sport for decades, announced Wednesday that he is cancer-free. Vitale had lengthy battles with lymphoma and melanoma, forcing him off television and causing him to lose his voice at one point.

Third Point, an investment firm run by Daniel Loeb, has taken a new stake in The Walt Disney Co. and is urging the company’s CEO to make a wave of changes, including spinning off ESPN and combining Hulu and the Disney+ streaming service. In a letter to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, Loeb, whose stake in Disney is reportedly worth about $1 billion, also wants The Mouse to expand its board of directors. Spinning off sports TV giant ESPN would give the unit “greater flexibility” and enable it “to pursue business initiatives that may be more difficult as part of Disney, such as sports betting,” Loeb said.

The Big Ten is on the cusp of television deals that are expected to pay it in excess of $1 billion and create a college football triple-header featuring Fox, CBS and NBC. If the agreement goes through, ESPN will be out of the business of Big Ten football and basketball for the first time in 40 years.

F1 has agreed to renew its rights deal with ESPN through 2025, sources say. The three-year deal still doesn’t have a signed contract, but the racing series told Amazon and Comcast executives on Friday that neither company’s bid was going to be accepted. Sources say that ESPN has agreed to pay around $75-$90 million per year for the rights. Currently, ESPN pays in the neighborhood of $5 million per year for the rights, having signed a 3-year/$15 million deal in 2019.

The third iteration of the XFL has found a TV home. The league and Disney have struck a global rights deal that will see all XFL regular season and playoff games running on ESPN, ABC and — in its first sports rights deal since becoming part of Disney — FX. The spring football league is set to begin play in 2023.

Three huge matchups to kick off the college football season, a new Australian Open agreement and two new 30 for 30 documentaries will be announced Tuesday by ESPN as part of its upfront presentation to advertisers in New York.

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman have been working together since 2002 when they became Fox’s top crew. The new ESPN NFL team will match Pat Summerall and John Madden for the longest NFL booth pairing at 21 seasons when Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos visit Wilson’s former team, the Seattle Seahawks, on Sept. 12.

SportsCenter co-anchor Sage Steele has sued ESPN and corporate parent The Walt Disney Co. for allegedly violating both her contract and her free speech rights, according to multiple reports. Steele is reportedly claiming that the network “sidelined” her last year after she made remarks about ESPN’s COVID policy and former President Barack Obama’s ethnic identity.

ESPN, which already airs hundreds of college softball and women’s lacrosse games each spring, is set to become a destination for the pro versions of those sports as well. The Disney-owned sports brand set a two-year agreement with emerging pro circuit Athletes United that will see more than 160 games air and stream on various platforms. Of the full roster of games, 34 of them will be broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2 and 56 will be on ESPNU. Others will stream on ESPN+, as will a four-part unscripted series, Going Pro: Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse.

The telecast is sold out across its three days on ESPN, ABC and the NFL Network with 30 first-time advertisers on board.

Riding a hot sports market after a regular season in which ratings were up 19%, Disney Ad Sales and Turner Sports report high demand and near sellouts for the NBA playoffs, which started Tuesday night on TNT.

Following a 20-year run as an announcing team for Fox, Troy Aikman and Joe Buck have signed multiyear agreements to join ESPN as the new voices for Monday Night Football, as well as contribute content to ESPN+. Aikman and Buck will make their regular-season MNF debut on Sept. 12.

On Friday, Fox granted Buck permission to speak with ESPN, according to sources. A deal is expected to come to fruition shortly. With Fox, Buck had one year and near $10 million remaining on his contract. Fox, though, is letting him out early as a gesture for his years of service to the company. He is expected to sign a contract in the five-year, $60 million-$75 million range with ESPN.

Cable operators continue to perceive that ESPN is their most valuable network, according to a survey from Beta Research. Operators said on average the sports network was worth $1.05 a month to their systems, marking the 22nd consecutive year it was ranked first or statistically tied for the top position, Beta said..

Last August, Roberts was named ESPN’s senior vice president for NBA and studio production. As the league comes out of the All-Star break and the push toward the playoffs intensifies, Roberts says he is pleased with the early results. Game viewership on ESPN is up 10%, and the new NBA Today studio show has seen a 35% increase.

Hall of Famer Troy Aikman is expected to leave Fox Sports to become the main analyst for ESPN’s Monday Night Football, the New York Post is reporting. Aikman’s ESPN deal will be for five years, according to sources, and his yearly salary is expected to approach or exceed the neighborhood of Tony Romo’s $17.5 million per year contract with CBS. The deal is not yet signed, but it is near completion.

ESPN and The Walt Disney Co. said they reached an expanded agreement with Peyton Manning and his Omaha Productions. The new deal adds a fourth 10-game season of Monday Night Football with Peyton & Eli, which appeared opposite Monday Night Football on ESPN2.

Saturday’s All-Star Game from Las Vegas will be on ABC, and marks the beginning of ESPN ramping up its coverage for the second half of the season. ESPN will have 11 games starting later this month, while ABC’s regular-season package of Saturday games begins on Feb. 26.

In a network first next Wednesday, Beth Mowins will work the Golden State Warriors-Utah Jazz game with analyst Doris Burke and reporter Lisa Salters. In addition, 33 other women will handle production roles on site in Salt Lake City and in the control room from ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn.