After seven years on air and thousands of hours of ‘dead good sport’, ESPN Classic is to close on Wednesday, July 31.
A unique 24/7 sports archive channel featuring the greatest games, stories, heroes and memories in the history of sport, ESPN Classic combined a mix of all-time classic highlights, matches, interviews, profiles and documentaries.
The channel has been held in high regard by viewers since its launch in the UK, providing a nostalgic trip down memory lane for sports fans both young and old.
Since learning of its closure, many fans have posted their tributes on social media ahead of its closure at midnight on August 1 (see below).
Following the agreement with BT, and after further review and consultation, the American-based broadcaster announced in February that its ESPN Classic channels in the UK and the rest of Europe would close at the end of July.
The British version of ESPN Classic launched via the Sky platform on March 13, 2006, the first ESPN-branded channel to launch in the UK, though the first ESPN Classic channel launched in mainland Europe back in 2002.
It was available to digital television subscribers in over 40 European countries, as well as millions more in Africa and the Middle East, with channels in English, German, Dutch, Polish, and Portuguese.
Sad to hear that @espnclassicuk is stopping broadcasting from Wednesday night, have enjoyed watching so much old football and boxing on it
John Galloway (@Johnglfc)
@espnclassicuk Thanks for the great classic sport/docs over the years. You got this sports producer through many a late night & long summer
Mike Holt (@MikeHolt12)
A message just came up on ESPN Classic saying that it’s closing in August. I’d just like to thank it for being the greatest channel ever.
Matt Fuller (@ThatMattFuller)
So farewell, ESPN. And farewell ESPN Classic, literally the only channel showing Philippe Albert at 5am http://t.co/LcenLltZiO
Jonathan Liew (@jonathanliew)
The ESPN Classic channel closes tomorrow. Disastrous news. I used to love watching it when sober or drunk. Some great shows on it.
— Daniel White (@danwhitejourno)
Football has been the central focus of ESPN Classic’s archive output, including classic matches from the Premier League, FA Cup, European Cup, European Cup Winners Cup and League Cup finals, as well as selected England internationals.
ESPN Classic also repeated full games from the FIFA World Cup following a multi-year deal to show 150 classic FIFA World Cup matches from 1930 to 2006 – including the 1966 World Cup final between England and West Germany.
Away from football, the channel broadcast selected rugby union matches, including action from the Rugby World Cup and Lions Tours.
Other sports featured include cricket, ESPN-produced vintage boxing matches, The Ultimate Fighter and more recently, action from American sports to complement the live American sports action which is broadcast on ESPN UK and ESPN America.
In addition to the programmes mentioned above, ESPN Classic also made a variety of other programmes exclusively for the channel.
These include Sport Years as well as many football compilation programmes, such as Premier League Goals.
In addition, to mark the 30th anniversary of ESPN, the channel has been showing the ESPN Films ‘30 for 30′ series.
When ESPN entered the UK sports market in 2009, ESPN Classic was occasionally used an overfill channel, screening live action when two events to which ESPN had the rights took place at the same time.
This included live Europa League football, Aviva Premiership rugby, BDO/PDC darts and WTA tennis.
More recently, ESPN Classic has used social media to interact with audiences via ‘Tweet-alongs’, including former Liverpool player Dietmaar Hamann live tweeting during a transmission of Liverpool’s 2005 Champions League triumph over AC Milan.
BT and ESPN announced in February that they have agreed BT will acquire ESPN’s UK and Ireland TV channels business, which recently received regulatory approval.
These primarily comprise the ESPN and ESPN America channels and their live sports rights portfolio, including the FA Cup, Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League, UEFA Europa League, and German Bundesliga.
ESPN will continue to have a presence in the UK sports media landscape.
While ESPN Classic, ESPN America will also close on July 31, from August 1 BT will operate an ESPN branded channel, featuring live sports and other programming, which forms part of the three-channel BT Sport TV package.
ESPN will continue to own and operate all of its popular digital properties, including ESPN.co.uk, ESPNcricinfo, ESPNFC and ESPNF1.
HISTORY
– 2002: ESPN brought ESPN Classic to Europe, dedicated to showcasing a compelling mix of the greatest sporting moments ever, including memorable matches, documentaries and heroes
– March 2002: ESPN Classic is launched in France, and is made available on all major cable and satellite platforms in France, Belgium and Switzerland
– July 2002: ESPN Classic is launched in Italy, and is available on SKY Italia, Fastweb, as well as in Switzerland and Malta
– December 2003: ESPN Classic launched a European English language channel that is now available in over 40 countries, with local programming windows in key territories
– March 2006: ESPN Classic launched its dedicated UK channel feed that reaches 8 million subscribers alone
– May 2008: ESPN Classic launched a dedicated Middle-East and Africa feed, its 5th channel in the Europe/Middle-East/Africa (EMEA) region
– August 2009: ESPN launches its first standalone channel in the UK, screening Premier League football, FA Cup and Aviva Premiership rugby up to May 2013
– February 2013: Following the loss of Premier League rights to BT in June 2012, ESPN and BT strike a deal that sees the telecoms giant acquire ESPN UK’s existing broadcast rights. ESPN announces that ESPN Classic is to close at the end of July.
– July 2013: ESPN Classic’s final day on air in the UK and Europe
ESPN CLASSIC’S FINAL DAY SCHEDULE
Wednesday 31st July 201306:00 Legends of the Premier League: Ian Wright
06:30 Legends of the Premier League: Cristiano Ronaldo
07:00 Legends of the Premier League: Peter Schmeichel
07:30 Legends of the Premier League: Gary Speed
08:00 Teleshopping
09:00 Premier League’s Greatest Goals: 1992-1994
10:05 Premier League’s Greatest Goals: 1995-1998
11:05 Premier League’s Greatest Goals: 1999-2000
12:10 Premier League’s Greatest Goals: 2001-2003
13:10 Premier League’s Greatest Goals: 2003-2004
14:15 Premier League’s Greatest Goals: 2005-2006
15:15 Barbarians v All Blacks 1973
16:15 Cricket: England v West Indies 1984
17:15 Formula 1 Retro: 1976
18:20 Bellies & Bullseyes: 1987 – Lowe v Bristow
18:50 UEFA Champions League: Inside the 2008 Final
19:20 UEFA Champions League Final 2008: Man Utd v Chelsea
22:20 The Rumble in the Jungle: Ali v Foreman
23:45 FIFA Mini World Cups: 1966
00:00 Channel goes off air
ESPN Classic was such a frustrating channel, with the rights to a goldmine of sport the output was far too one-dimensional. Too much football, too much dubbed football. The same documentaries repeated over and over again. It could have been so much more.
The last days schedule sums up the attitude to the station over the last 2 or 3 years. You think they’d go out with a bang, not more repeats of Premier league goals.
It will be missed but not as much as it should have been.