Verizon Wireless secures deal with ESPN to bring sports-related content to cellphones
ESPN is getting into the cellphone game again. If you remember not that long ago, ESPN ventured into the cellphone arena by having their own line of phones manufactured and offering exclusive content to their subscribers. This was at a time (2005-2006) when it seemed that everyone was jumping into the cellphone/branded content game, and the sports network thought it could bring in a healthy revenue stream by going mobile. They thought wrong.
Suffice to say, ESPN Mobile was a spectacular failure. Subscriber projections never came close to expectations–the company thought that their many of their viewers would drop their existing cellphone plans and switch over to ESPN just to get sports-related content such as highlights, statistics, and so forth. Well, it didn’t happen, and ESPN Mobile shuttered its doors early in 2006, but they did say they would seek to offer their content to an existing cellular service provider as an add-on.
This week, ESPN and Verizon Wireless have inked a deal whereby subscribers to the VCast service will now have access to game highlights, up-to-the minute scores, and other related ESPN content. Will this create a fairly fluid and consistent revenue stream for ESPN? It’s too early to speculate at this point, but time will tell if Verizon Wireless subscribers who don’t already have the VCast service will plunk down the $15 a month to get it.
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