July 31, 2008
Don’t you sort of wonder what took so long?
For all of you “X-treme” sports fans out there, you already know that X-Games XIV begin today on ESPN. For those of you looking to get your X-Games fix when you can’t watch it on TV? Your prayers, albeit years late, have been answered. ESPN will be unveiling the Action Sports Network, so lovers of all extreme sports, apparently, there are a lot of them…can get their fix. More from the LA Times,
Called ESPN Action Sports Network, the new hub will launch in the fall and encompass a cluster of Internet sites, each devoted to a specific “action sport,” to offer coverage of events that aren’t usually carried on mainstream television.
Fans of action sports — surfing, skateboarding, motocross, snowboarding and the like — are an increasingly attractive, if elusive, audience for the major networks. Estimates peg the size of the audience at anywhere from 27 million to 115 million. However, the audience is also highly fragmented, with enthusiasts interested only in their particular sport.
And what of ESPN’s current “action sports” website, EXPN.com? Have no fear…
ESPN wants to draw the audience for extreme sports to the online world, where avid sports fans spend nearly as much time watching video streams and reading and posting on blogs as they do sitting in front of the television, according Jupiter Research. Finger said the network developed the EXPN.com website about a year ago to start offering daily content of extreme sports, but that will now become ESPN Action Sports Network.
Hoping to build on that momentum, the Action Sports Network will offer more original digital programs such as “Guerilla Cam,” which takes fans behind the scenes of events. The site will provide exclusive content and “first looks” at sports films, including snowboarder/producer Travis Rice’s film “That’s It, That’s All.” And it’ll invite fans to upload and share their own sports videos as it seeks to form a community around each of the sports.
ESPN also struck deals with sports information and product websites Surfline.com, Vans.com and Active Ride Shop to share content and do cross-promotion.
It will be very interesting to see the sports landscape five years from now, won’t it? Mixed Martial Arts is being broadcast on CBS, The X-Games are already drawing large audiences and are now expanding their internet presence…While I doubt we will see a shift to so called ‘fringe sports’ from the major sports like football, basketball, and baseball, it will be interesting to see what kind of advertising dollars the X-Games are bringing in by the time we get to X-Games XX.
LA Times: ESPN plans to launch online network dedicated to ‘Action Sports’
One comment
I am a huge x games fan and tune in every year for the show. i also find myslef watching the AST Dew Tour on USA late at night when sleep is being a problem.
It is interesting that the added rally cars three years ago as rally car racing is fast becoming the world’s favorite motor sport.
There is rumors that one Kyle Loiza has a new trick to debut tonite in the Moto X best trick contest. This is something like a rider doing a back flip independent of the bike as he makes the 70ft jump. Should be very interesting.
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