ESPN’s flagship show, SportsCenter, was losing relevance with young males in a big way. There weren’t enough highlights to counteract the negative trends: a change in on-air personalities, too much emphasis on big market teams, and a perceived bias towards the Northeast. But most daunting was the migration to on-demand sports information. SportsCenter was looking to become relevant again in this new world.
We helped ESPN tap into what was driving the shifts in behavior in a way that righted the SportsCenter franchise and helped ESPN think of digital properties as an asset. Digital extensions of SportsCenter would allow ESPN to localize and personalize sports information for its viewers, pulling them deeper into the SportsCenter franchise. Our work with ESPN subsequently led to a number of improvements, including the introduction of live weekday editions and the launch of SportsCenter’s West Coast production.