The Failure of Mobile ESPN
Mobile ESPN launched in February of 2006 with a blistering ad campaign. Six months on, the service has only drawn ten thousand subscribers after spending more than $30 million on advertising. Why has Mobile ESPN been a failure?
Linking content and (a bad) device
If you want to subscribe to Mobile ESPN, you’ll need to signup with ESPN’s MVNO, which is actually run through Sprint. Currently, it’s not possible to access their content using another network. Requiring a dedicated network might not be so bad if the product were better. The only phone available for Mobile ESPN service is the Sanyo MVP. Mobile ESPN recently doubled its phone lineup with the addition of the Samsung ACE. However, two phones can hardly be called a broad selection.
Bad timing
The Super Bowl in 2006 was held in early February, before Mobile ESPN launched. Why a mobile sporting news service was launched after the nation’s most popular sport season ended is puzzling. Perhaps ESPN counted on NCAA March Madness to carry the service, but that doesn’t seem to have helped much. World Cup coverage also failed to draw more subscribers.
The upcoming NFL season may pull in more subcribers, but only if potential customers can access Mobile ESPN content using their preferred devices and mobile provider. Only time will tell if Mobile ESPN will become viable. In the meantime, it’s an excellent example of how not to run a MVNO.