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ESPN Hoping to Score Phone Customers in San Antonio

Posted on: Monday, 31 October 2005, 15:00 CST

By Sanford Nowlin, San Antonio Express-News

Oct. 29--Cable sports network ESPN has picked San Antonio as one of four markets where it will conduct final test marketing of its mobile phone service.

Connecticut-based ESPN's service will operate on Sprint's wireless network and let subscribers access the cable company's audio and video broadcasts, access real-time scores, and read breaking news and commentary.

The company will launch the service nationwide in February after advertising it on the Super Bowl but wanted to test the service in sports-hungry towns like San Antonio to work out any bugs, Senior Vice President Manish Jha said. It's also previewing the service in Austin, Minneapolis and Reno, Nev.

"We grew up in the cable TV business, but we're really a sports media company," Jha said. "Wherever fans go to get their sports information, we want to be there."

It's selling the phones -- which retail for $399 after a $100 rebate -- at Best Buy stores around San Antonio. It will offer a variety of calling plans, each of which has content available only to ESPN service subscribers, and plans to introduce lower-cost phones over time.

ESPN is one of a growing number of media firms -- Virgin and Disney among them -- that is reselling cellular service under its own brand name in hopes of scooping up more dollars from a loyal fan base.

A variety of entertainment companies and retailers is expected to take a similar strategy in coming years. By 2010, Yankee Group projects such branded cellular resellers will have 29 million U.S. subscribers, accounting for 14 percent of all wireless subscriptions.

ESPN expects to leverage a large and loyal base of subscribers who turn to it daily for sports news and information, Jha said.

The company's Web site has been a hot destination for sports fans for more than 10 years, and it has offered content for other wireless services for almost as long. Consumers access some kind of ESPN-branded information via TV, Web, magazine or phone about 97 million times a week.

Other cellular services have sports content that allows users to check scores or stats for their favorite teams. But Jha said ESPN's large collection of content available only to its own subscribers will set it apart.

"It's not just about letting people get the scores," Jha said. "They can do that anywhere now."

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Copyright (c) 2005, San Antonio Express-News

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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DIS,

Source: San Antonio Express-News

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