ESPN America is a British based European sports network, focusing on professional sports of the United States and Canada. Originally launched in December 2002 as NASN (the North American Sports Network), ESPN America broadcasts a selection of top North American professional and collegiate sports leagues including Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL), National Football League (NFL), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Canadian Football League (CFL), 24 hours a day on digital cable and digital satellite television. The channel has been owned by ESPN since March 2007, formerly owned by Benchmark Capital Europe and Setanta Sports,[1] and has been known as ESPN America since 1 February 2009.
[edit] ESPN America programming
Programming on ESPN America varies from country to country. Currently, the channel operates three feeds throughout Europe. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Finland and Spain events currently seen on ESPN America include MLB, the College World Series, NCAA college football and college basketball, the NHL and the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship (Frozen Four) plus the Arena Football League, Major League Lacrosse, and the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship Final Four. In continental Europe and Iceland the broadcast also includes NFL programmes.
NASN paid £11.6m in March 2006 for the rights to show ten live MLB games a week.[2]
In 2006, ESPN programmes, including Baseball Tonight, Around the Horn, The Sports Reporters and Pardon the Interruption were dropped from the schedule as the contract between NASN and ESPN ended. However, they returned from 1 April 2007 when the contract was renewed.[3]
ESPN America also airs other special single-sport programmes, such as College Football Live, College GameDay, NHL on the Fly, NBA Fastbreak and NASCAR Now.
As of 28th October 2009, ESPN America switched from 4:3 to 16:9 SD. All 4:3 content is shown in 16:9 with sidebars.[4]
[edit] Sale to ESPN
Former NASN logo used up to 1 February 2009.
In late 2006, former owners Benchmark Capital Europe and Setanta Sports agreed to sell the network to ESPN for €70m.[5] The sale was completed in March 2007 but the network continued to be part of the Setanta Sports Pack on satellite television until June 2009 when Setanta UK went into administration.[1][6] The network became known as ESPN America on 1 February 2009 to coincide with Super Bowl XLIII. The channel continued to provide the same lineup of North American sports programming.[7]
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[edit] External links
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