Mobile ESPN

What Were They Thinking
Written By

2005 – 2006

This Mobile and ESPN combination promised sports fans deliver all sports all the time in the palm of their hand. The phone gave exclusive access to score updates, video content, highlights and continuous sports news, but apparently, sports fans weren’t given much credit for having taste. The phone was an ugly, clunky, flip phone, and customers weren’t willing to pay for the expensive plans that ranged from $65 - $225 per month. Talk about a fumbled pass! Mobile ESPN failed 9 months after its launch, and cost the company millions of dollars. ESPN should have listened to Steve Jobs when he told the company’s president “Your phone is the dumbest f***ing idea I have ever heard.”

Additional info:

Vice - The Embarrassing Failure That Made ESPN a Mobile Juggernaut

The New York Times - Mobile ESPN to End Service Aimed at Sports Customers

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