Early last fall, ESPN launched its Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) service and enhanced ESPN App, giving fans access to all 12 ESPN networks and services in one place for the first time. In the year since, ESPN DTC has delivered more value to sports fans than ever before, offering more than 47,000 live events annually and fan-centric innovations like SportsCenter For You, StreamCenter, Multiview and a complete interactive feature set on the ESPN App.
To mark the milestone, Brian Marshall, Vice President, Sports Products & Strategy, and Emily Horowitz, Vice President, ESPN Direct-to-Consumer, reflected on the first year of ESPN DTC, the moments that stand out and where the service is headed.
Looking back on the first year, what would you say is your proudest moment?
Emily: There was a lot of pride on launch night last August, because it was a culmination of so many pivotal moments including the launches of TVE, ESPN360.com (and the brands that followed), and ESPN+, the growth of the ESPN App. These building blocks and contributions of thousands of colleagues over the years made launching ESPN DTC possible.
Brian: It’s hard to beat launch day and the energy that comes from seeing our fans engage with a new product. There aren’t many times in your career that you get to launch something brand new, and that was a special moment. Personally, watching SportsCenter For You every day has been special — everyone who works on it should be proud.
What’s something you’ve learned that surprised you?
Emily: It’s always surprising how quickly and enthusiastically fans will tell us what is working and what we can do better … and they have! We’re constantly learning how we can adapt, respond more quickly, build something new, make a different decision, listen more closely and give our fans a better experience each day.
Brian: Our data shows us that interactivity helps drive viewing. Fans want control, not just content. Products need to give viewers more choice over how they watch, what information they see and how they engage across screens. Features like StreamCenter, Multiview and Verts are engaging millions of fans and we will keep improving these experiences.
What’s the feature or capability within the ESPN App that you personally use all the time, and why?
Emily: I repeatedly come back to Multiview. We’ve created an experience that makes it easier for fans to stay connected to the sports and events they care about in a way that feels intuitive and uniquely ESPN. I’m not alone, as we know Multiview is engaging millions of U.S. users. The full force of Multiview will be especially on display in the coming weeks with US Open tennis and college football Saturdays!
Brian: One new feature that I use all the time is Verts, which provides a new storytelling canvas for our content team. I find myself using Verts as a source of entertainment and news, and I’m not alone. More than 24M users have used Verts — over 1.5 billion minutes spent in the ESPN App.
Complete this sentence: “The biggest difference between ESPN DTC today and one year ago is …”
Emily: … the creation of even more options for sports fans on the ESPN App. While we’re celebrating one-year since the ESPN DTC launch, this year was really a series of launches — WWE, NFL+ Premium, FOX One, MLB.TV, CW Sports and more! We are grateful to have incredible league, conference and network partners to make this possible.
Brian: … the amount of incredible content available to our fans. We’ve added roughly 2,500 MLB games with MLB.TV, added additional value to the ESPN Unlimited offering with NFL Network and CW Sports and are now streaming WWE PLEs for our fans.
As we begin year two, what excites you most?
Emily: I’m excited to continue delivering a best-in-class sports experience to our fans. We have nearly a full year of fan behavior and performance data to learn from. Every season, content deal, partnership launch, product enhancement and new capability informs our future strategies to better serve sports fans with ESPN DTC.
Brian: I’m excited for the way we’re planning to evolve personalization and interactivity across our products. Personalization allows us to serve all types of fans, wherever and however they choose to engage, while interactivity gives them more choice in how they watch and what they see across screens. We laid a solid foundation for these experiences in year one, and we will see an even greater impact in year two.