ESPN is a Dutch group of pay television sports channels, owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%) and operated by Eredivisie Media & Marketing CV in which The Walt Disney Company (Benelux) BV has 51% ownership. ESPN launched as Fox Sports on 1 August 2013, buying out the Eredivisie Live service from the Dutch Football League.[1][2] On 31 December 2020, it was renamed ESPN after the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney in 2019. ESPN offers 4 HD channels and 1 Ultra HD channel, Video-on-demand services and ESPN app. Its main competitor is the Dutch premium television service Ziggo Sport Totaal.
 | |
| Country | Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Network | ESPN |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Dutch |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | ESPN Inc. operated by Eredivisie Media & Marketing CV (51 % The Walt Disney Company (Benelux) BV) |
| Sister channels | 24Kitchen BabyTV National Geographic National Geographic Wild Star Channel |
| History | |
| Launched | 29 August 2008 as Eredivisie Live 1 August 2013 as Fox Sports |
| Former names | Fox Sports (2013–2020) Erdivisie Live (2008–2013) |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Digitenne | Channel 24 (ESPN HD) Channel 25 (ESPN 2 HD) |
| Streaming media | |
| Ziggo GO | ZiggoGO.tv (Europe only) |
| ESPN Watch | Watch live (Netherlands only) |
| Canal+ | CANAL+ Sport (Netherlands only) |
History
editIt launched as Eredivisie Live at the start of the 2008–09 season on 29 August 2008.[3] Highlights of the Eredivisie can be seen on the national public broadcaster NOS.
The pundit team includes Jan van Halst, Mario Been and Pierre van Hooijdonk. Gary Lineker provides a weekly analysis of the matches, which can be seen on the website of Eredivisie Live. The website also offers pay-per-view matches.
Between the 2009–10 and 2012–13 seasons, Eredivisie Live broadcast the UEFA Europa League live on Thursdays. From 2013–14 the coverage switched to sister service Fox Sports International for matches of non-Dutch clubs.[4]
In August 2013, the Eredivisie Media & Marketing CV would establish another two channels which included Fox Sports International while Eredivisie Live was rebranded into Fox Sports Eredivisie on 1 August 2013.[5]
On 20 March 2019 The Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox, including Fox Networks Group Benelux and Fox's 51% stake on the channel.[6][7] Since July 2019, Fox Sports 1 is part of the KPN provider basic package.[8] On 1 October 2020, it was announced that the networks would rebrand as ESPN on 31 December 2020, due to the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney.[9][10]
The number of linear television channels was reduced to 4 on 2 August 2021.[11] ESPN Ultra HD launched on 2 August 2021, During the Johan Cruijff Schaal. This also was Evert ten Napel's last match as ESPN commentator.[12]
On the 6th of February 2024 it was announced that for the first time by immediate effect all Keuken Kampioen Divisie and Vrouwen Eredivisie matches will be able to be watched live for ESPN Subscribers, With 2 Keuken Kampioen Divisie matches on Friday on linear tv and the rest only to be able to be watched online by ESPN Extra (Which you can access only with ESPN Watch)[13]
Channels
edit- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPN3
- ESPN4
- ESPN Ultra HD
- ESPN Extra (only on ESPN Watch which is a digital app/website for subscribers)
Coverage
editFootball
edit- Eredivisie All games live
- KNVB Cup All games live, with late evening kick-off simulcasted on free-to-air channel FOX
- Keuken Kampioen Divisie at least 2 games per week live with a switch program for all friday games (Voetbal op Vrijdag) (All remaining games live on Friday on ESPN Extra which is on ESPN Watch)
- Vrouwen Eredivisie All matches live
- Johan Cruyff Shield
- UEFA
- UEFA Europa League All games with Dutch teams involved live, selected other games
- UEFA Europa Conference League All games with Dutch teams involved live, selected other games
- CONMEBOL
- CONCACAF
- CONCACAF Gold Cup
- CONCACAF Nations League (final four only)
- CONCACAF Champions Cup
- AFC
American Football
editBaseball
editBasketball
edit- NBA 6 games per week live
- NCAA College Basketball
Ice Hockey
edit- NHL 3 games per week live
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Jarco Kriek (26 June 2013). "Eredivisie Live wordt Fox Sports Eredivisie en International". TotaalTV.
- ^ "NMa: Fox mag Eredivisie Media & Marketing overnemen - Activiteiten in 2012 - NMa Jaarverslag 2012". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
- ^ Robert Briel (10 July 2008). "Eredivisie Live launches August 29". Broadband TV News.
- ^ "Eredivisie Live wordt Fox Sports eredivisie". Fox Sports. 30 June 2013.
- ^ Eredivisie Live wordt FOX Sports Eredivisie, 26 June 2013[permanent dead link]
- ^ New Disney Registration Statement
- ^ Szalai, Georg; Bond, Paul (March 20, 2019). "Disney Closes $71.3 Billion Fox Deal, Creating Global Content Powerhouse". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
- ^ Fox Sports 1 vanaf nu in basispakket KPN Foxsports.nl, 23 juli 2019
- ^ "Fox Sports gaat ESPN Sports heten". broadcastmagazine.nl. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^ "FOX Sports heet vanaf 1 januari ESPN | Eredivisie". eredivisie.nl (in Dutch). 2020-12-01. Archived from the original on 2020-12-01. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ Jarco Kriek (30 May 2021). "ESPN schrapt zenders: terug naar vier kanalen" (in Dutch). TotaalTV.nl. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ Jarco Kriek (23 July 2021). "'ESPN UHD na Ziggo en SKV ook bij KPN'" (in Dutch). TotaalTV.nl. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ^ RTL Nieuws (6 February 2024). "'Meer duels uit eerste divisie en eredivisie vrouwen live op tv'" (in Dutch). RTL.nl. Retrieved 16 May 2024.