The top ESPN Competitors are Fox Sports, Star Sports, Sky Sports, NBC Sports, Sony TEN, Eurosport, NEO Sports and others. Founded in 1979 by brothers Bill, Scott, and Ed Egan, ESPN which initially was an acronym meaning Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American-based satellite sports channel under the ESPN Inc. brand which is a joint venture between Walt Disney which has an 80% stake in the company and the remaining 20% owned by Hearst communications. ESPN has several sister channels including Disney XD, ACC Network, and Longhorn Network among many others. ESPN has a presence in over 200 countries while at the same time it operates regional channels in Latin America, Australia, United Kingdom and Brazil.
Jimmy Pitaro was named ESPN’s eighth president in March 2018 and named Chairman, ESPN in February 2023. Based in Bristol, Conn., ESPN has approximately 3,800 employees (4,600 worldwide).
ESPN+ is the industry-leading sports streaming service that offers fans in the U.S. thousands of live sports events, original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks and exclusive editorial content from dozens of ESPN writers and reporters. Launched in April 2018, ESPN+ has grown to more than 25.3 million subscribers.
Some of the sports show aired by ESPN include: Around the Horn, Baseball tonight, Monday Night Countdown et cetera. ESPN has an average viewership of 1.04 million and a prime-time viewership of 2.9 million. The top ESPN competitors are as discussed below:
Table of Contents
Top ESPN Competitors
1) Fox Sports
- Product Type: Sports Programming Network
- Industry: Sports media.
- Founded: August 12, 1994.
- Founder: Rupert Murdoch.
- Headquarters: Los Angeles, California, United States.
- Area served: United States and Mexico.
- Current CEO: Eric Shanks.
- Revenue: $3.032B (June 30, 2023)
- Market cap: $14.34B (September 18, 2023)
- Number of employees: 10,400 (2023)
The name Fox Sports originates from Fox Broadcasting Company which is based in America which also originated from Fox Film Corporation which was later renamed 20th Century Fox. Fox Sports is part of a number of other sports channels and media that are either partially owned or controlled by Rupert Murdoch and family. Fox Sports has a presence in several countries in all the continents including Asia and the Caribbean. The name Fox Sports has been used in several other assets that are sports related and owned by the 21st Century Fox including Foxsports.com and Fox Sports College Hoops ’99 which is a video game.
Fox net income for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $0.375B. Fox gross profit for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $1.254B. Fox total assets for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 were $21.866B.
2) Star Sports
- Product Type: Sports Programming Network
- Industry: Sports media.
- Founded: 28 October 1996.
- Founders: Star TV and Tele-Communications Inc.
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
- Area served: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, and the Middle East.
- Current CEO: Uday Shankar
Star sports is owned by Star India which is a subsidiary of sports media giant 21st Century Fox. Launched in 1993, Star Sports is available in five languages namely: English, Hindi, Cantonese, Korean and Mandarin and has a broadcast area covering India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In standard definition, Star Sports is available in Star Sports’ 1 and 2, Star Sports Select 1 and 2, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Tamil and Star Sports First while in high definition it is available in Star Sports 1 and 2 HD, Star Sports Select 1 and 2 HD and Star Sports Hindi 1 HD. Star Sports also owns a digital platform known as Hotstar while also webcasting Premier League in India.
Walt Disney-owned Star India’s net profit for the fiscal ended 31st March 2022 has zoomed 74% to Rs 1,421 crore. The company’s revenue from operations for the fiscal under review surged 38% to Rs 17,481 crore.
3) Sky Sports
- Product Type: Sports Programming Network
- Industry: Sports media.
- Founded: 1990.
- Founders: Rupert Murdoch and Sam Chisholm.
- Headquarters: Isleworth, London, England.
- Area served: United Kingdom and Ireland.
- Current CEO: Dana Strong.
Sky Sports was launched in 1990 as The Sports Channel but was the name was changed to Sky Sports in 1991 and has remained so to date. It is part of a group of Sports TV channels operated and owned by Sky plc. Its sister channels include Real Lives, Pick and Challenge among many others. Sky Sports is available in IPTV, streaming media, cable, and satellite. The main channels on offer by Sky Sports include Sky Sports Mix, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Cricket among others. Once in a while, Sky Sports rebrands one of its channels to coincide with a major sports event, examples include Sky Sports Ashes, Sky Sports Darts, Sky Sports Ryder Cup, Sky Sports World Cup et cetera.
For the first six months of 2022, Sky’s revenue was down 9.2 per cent YoY to US$9.3 billion. Sky’s content revenue decreased 16.4 per cent YoY to US$265 million, primarily due to a change in sports programming licensing agreements in Italy and Germany. Advertising revenue also fell 3.1 per cent to US$556 million. Sky saw its subscriber base shrink by 255,000 for Q2 to 22.7 million, with its ‘total customer relations’ decreasing during the first six months of the year by 361,000.
4) NBC Sports
- Product Type: Sports Programming Network
- Industry: Sports media.
- Founded: May 17, 1939.
- Founders: David Sarnoff.
- Headquarters: Stamford, Connecticut, United States.
- Area served: United States and Canada.
- Current CEO: Pete Bevacqua.
NBC Sports is a division of the NBC Universal group and is responsible for broadcasting sports news and events on the NBC network. Some of the sports events that NBC Sports broadcasts’ include NASCAR, NHL, PGA Tour, Olympic games, NFL, Premier League and Notre Dame Football among many others. Some of the NBC owned channels include NBC, CNBC, NBCSN, MSNBC and USA Network among several others. NBC has two subsidiaries namely NBC Olympics LLC and NBC Sports Ventures LLC. Some of the channels under NBC include NBC Sports, NBC Sports Digital, Golf channel and Telemundo Deportes.
5) Sony TEN
- Product Type: Sports Programming Network
- Industry: Sports media.
- Founded: April 1, 2002.
- Founder: Abdul Rahman Bukhatir.
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
- Area served: India.
- Current CEO: NP Singh.
Sony TEN is a sports channel with operations in India. It is a culture of channels generally referred to as Sony TEN 1, 2 and 3 and the high definition broadcasts referred to as Sony TEN HD 1, 2 and 3 and also Sony TEN Golf HD. The programmes normally being broadcast in these channels include association football, basketball, cricket, golf, tennis, wrestling, and MMA among others. Launched in 2002, Sony TEN primarily broadcasts in two main languages; English and Hindi and broadcasts in the Indian Subcontinent. Sony TEN is available in satellite, cable, and IPTV.
Full year 2022 revenues did grow, standing at 1.37BN yen ($10B), compared with 1.24 billion yen the year prior. Sony Corp grew its sales to 11.54 trillion yen ($85B), up from 9.92 trillion yen in 2022 and operating income was broadly flat at 1.2 trillion yen ($8.9B). Games and services grew revenues significantly, with sales of 3.64 trillion yen ($27B) up from 2.74 billion yen a year prior, but operating income fell.
6) Eurosport
- Product Type: Sports Programming Network
- Industry: Sports media.
- Founded: 5 February 1989.
- Founders: News UK and European Broadcasting Union.
- Headquarters: Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.
- Area served: Europe, Asia, and Africa.
- Current CEO: Andrew Georgiou.
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, and streams on Max and Discovery+, which superseded Eurosport Player.
Available in 54 countries, Eurosport broadcasts in 20 languages across Europe and most recently in India. Eurosport treats its viewers to lots of football from all the major football leagues including La Liga, Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A et cetera. Other sporting events being aired on Eurosport include World and European Athletic Championships, Paris Dakar rally, Tour De France, Wimbledon among others.
7) NEO Sports
- Product Type: Sports Programming Network
- Industry: Sports media.
- Founded: 8 November 2006.
- Founders: Harish Krishnamachar and Nikhil Bhardwaj.
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
- Area served: India.
NEO Sports was launched in 2006 and is an integrated satellite sports television channel. It airs almost all prime events in the world of sports including football, tennis, golf, table tennis, horse racing, motor racing and sailing among others. NEO Sports is owned by Nimbus Communication and is available in both satellite and cable. Events organized by NEO Sports include Eredivisie and Coppa Italia football, French Open and Davis Open in Tennis, PGA in golf, FIBA in basketball and ITTF in table tennis and many others. NEO Sports has one sister channel called NEO Prime. News offered by NEO Sports include Chilli Factor, Dial S for Sports, Goal! Mega TV and Fuel TV.
Indirect Competitors
8) National Geographic
Popularly known as NAT GEO, National Geographic is an American satellite and digital cable television network that is majority-owned by media giant 21st Century Fox with a 75% stake and minority-owned by National Geographic Society with a 25% stake. NAT GEO has a sister channel called Nat Geo Wild and is available in satellite, streaming media, IPTV, and cable. NAT GEO primarily features documentaries whose content is factual and involves culture, nature, history, and science. NAT GEO channels include Nat Geo Music, Nat Geo Junior, Nat Geo People, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo and Nat Geo Kids among others.
- Product Type: Media and entertainment
- Industry: Media and entertainment.
- Founded: 27 September 1888.
- Founders: Gardiner Greene Hubbard and Alexander Graham Bell.
- Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States.
- Area served: Worldwide.
- Current CEO: Scott Dadich.
National Geographic is a world leader in geography, cartography, and exploration. It is a non-profit organization that has been inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888. National Geographic produces content that covers a wide range of topics, including science, nature, history, culture, and travel. They have a team of photographers, writers, and researchers who work to create engaging and informative content that helps people understand the world around them. National Geographic is known for its stunning photography, in-depth reporting, and commitment to exploring and protecting the planet.
National Geographic is a well-known YouTube channel covering Science & Technology and has attracted 20.4 million subscribers on the platform. The channel launched in 2006. National Geographic has an estimated net worth of about $9.07 million. National Geographic’ YouTube channel attracts around 37.78 million views a month and around 1.26 million views each day. National Geographic earns $151.14 thousand a month, reaching $2.27 million a year.
9) Channel O
- Product Type: Media and entertainment.
- Industry: Media and entertainment.
- Founded: 17 October 1997.
- Founders: MultiChoice Group.
- Headquarters: Johannesburg, South Africa.
- Area served: Africa.
- Current CEO: Yolisa Phahle.
Channel O is a music channel based in South Africa. The main concept behind Channel O is African music in the diaspora and in Africa too. It is available in the satellite. It is behind the Channel O Music Video Awards that celebrates and awards artists for outstanding contribution to matters music. Some of the programmes on offer include O-Xpress, Xpress: Breakfast, O-Africa Xpress, Heat Wave O-Rocks, Some of the programmes on offer include: O-Xpress, Xpress: Breakfast, O-Africa Xpress, Heat Wave O-Rocks, Soul Xpress et cetera.
10) Comedy Central
- Product Type: Media and entertainment.
- Industry: Media and entertainment.
- Founded: 1 April 1991.
- Founders: Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment.
- Headquarters: New York City, New York, United States.
- Area served: United States, Canada, and Latin America.
- Current CEO: Kent Alterman.
Launched in 1991, Comedy Central is a satellite and basic cable TV channel that is American based and is owned by the Viacom Entertainment Group which is a division of Viacom Media Networks. It airs comedy programs both in licensed, original, syndicated and stand up specials. It also airs feature film. Comedy Central is available in IPTV, streaming media, cable, and satellite. Some of the programmes being aired on Comedy Central include The Big Bang Theory, Friends, The Late Night Show and Two Broke Girls among many others.
Comedy Central is a well-known YouTube channel covering Comedy and has attracted 11.1 million subscribers on the platform. The Comedy Central YouTube channel started in 2006 and is based in the United States. Comedy Central has an estimated net worth of about $8.79 million. Comedy Central’ YouTube channel receives around 36.61 million views a month and about 1.22 million views each day.
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