Desperately seeking Mobile ESPN users
Thanks to smartly done Super Bowl spots, courtesy of Arnold, and ubiquitous house ads on ESPN’s 8,000 or so cable channels, the broadcaster’s ambitious foray into multimedia cellular service has gotten quite a launch. Now, the hard part: Convince customers to part with $200 for a Mobile ESPN phone, switch to Sprint if they don’t already have it, pay $35-$225 a month for two years, and then only receive ESPN-approved content. Wall Street Journal tech guru Walt Mossberg was particularly exasperated over ESPN blocking access to some sites, including competitor Sports Illustrated. A month after its glitzy debut, evidence of these phones flying off the shelves is scant. Deadspin.com, a haven of upscale sports junkies, pleaded with its readers to speak up if they even knew anyone who owned the thing. The response: crickets. Not good when one commenter summed up his reaction this way: “The guys who launched this thing are incredibly arrogant and dumb. This is going to be as popular as their attempt to sell their dumb SportsCenter commercials on iTunes.” So, has anyone out there actually gotten Mobile ESPN?
—Posted by Brian Morrissey
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March 3, 2006 in Morrissey | Permalink
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Comments
Supposedly, it's a cool service if you're a fantasy junkie...But wouldn't any PDA/Phone do the same?
I have seen one...I talked to player who plays at a mid-major NCAA basketball program. He gets the service for free because his girl knows 'someone'...He said he's not extending his deal.
I wish that I could help you out with more. I'm interested to hear opinions. If you have any input, post up.
BD
Posted by: IronDog | Mar 6, 2006 5:03:45 PM
First of all, the Arnold ad was a poor meditation on the "This is SportsCenter" campaign, except with C-list athletes. As a sports fan, and talking to other hard core fans, most of the commentary was along the lines of "I don't want to be in Sports Heaven with WNBA'ers and Stephon Marbury."
The phone itself is ugly, confusing and unnecessary. It CAN NOT GO ALL THE WAY!
Posted by: Eric | Mar 6, 2006 6:23:45 PM
LOL
Posted by: TunaTacoGrande | Mar 12, 2006 2:28:43 PM
Pesonally I Think You Are Jealous
Posted by: unknown | Mar 18, 2006 2:42:50 AM
And Yes I Have One
Posted by: unknown | Mar 18, 2006 2:44:48 AM
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