Could ESPN Be Coming To Xbox 360 In The US?

30
Richard Walker

If a report in the New York Times is to be believed, Microsoft has been holding talks to bring ESPN to Xbox 360. If this is indeed the case, the service would be subscription-based, requiring no cable TV connection.

The UK already has a similar service provided via Sky Television, with a 24 channel package that includes access to ESPN, so the report might not be so far fetched.

The New York Times article fails to name a source however, instead citing anonymous "people close to the talks".

"Microsoft has held in-depth discussions with the Walt Disney Company about a programming deal with ESPN, according to people close to the talks, who requested anonymity because the talks were intended to be private.

"For a per-subscriber fee, ESPN could provide live streams of sporting events, similar to the ones available through ESPN 360, a service that is available from some high-speed Internet providers. Microsoft could also create some interactive games in association with ESPN, the people said, although a deal has not yet been struck."

Microsoft has dismissed the report as, "rumour and speculation." But then they would say that, wouldn't they?

Watch this space.

[New York Times via Kotaku]

Comments
30
  • Interesting. I'm in Australia and a diehard sports fan so I guess I won't be gettin this :( Although I got access to everything on ESPN via cable tv on foxtel. Besides, how many "gamers" on xbox will want to watch ESPN? I know theres hardly any of us diehard sports fans/gamers out there.
  • I still don't understand the need for TV apps to be on the xbox... Most people have their xbox connected to a TV, why not use that?
  • Every year there's a game or two that's not televised that I really want to watch and end up paying 20bucks for. I know espn360 covers a lot of games but those are usually the games televised nationally and/or locally. Now if they could stream the games that are pay-per-view only then they might have something.
  • If there's achievements, I'll probably buy it.
  • That would be interesting
  • If its free I'll use it, otherwise I will just use cable
  • @1 I'm a die-hard sports fan and believe it or not there's more of us than you think.We will have to see what xbox and espn have in store for us
  • I wouldnt mind this since they dont show Cardinal football games here in Tn.
  • itll be good for for you americans if they dont rip you off like they do to us with sky tv
  • Im with #4 on this :DD
  • Sweet another thing that only america gets, if you gave the americans the same shit we got on the european dashboard they would pretty much sell their xbox and buy a ps3 instead. Fuck sake Microsoft do one thing right and provide ALL your customers with the same shit, it wont do any harm i promise...
  • @#11 - You do realise that the ESPN service is already in the UK with Sky and I bet there is something similar on France's Canal service. It's not all US US US ;)
  • I'd pay for a subscription to ESPN on 360 if it included the things that I don't get with cable. I get ESPN and ESPN 2, but I'd like to have ESPN Classic, ESPN U, and the wide range of games provided on ESPN 360. However, I strongly suspect the service offered will be limited and overpriced.
  • Sports are gay
  • Hmm Sounds Pretty Good...Then I'll be able to see all of the Mavricks Games While in NyC
  • If this is true, I would finally drop my cable TV for good. The only reason I still carry it is to watch football and a couple shows. I get to see the Raiders play maybe 2 games a year on TV and this would be a Godsend... not to mention that I could finally stop using ATDHE.net to stream the rest of my games.
  • Knowing MS, ESPN, and the NFL, the price to stream the football games I want to watch are going to be exorbitant. If I want to pay attention to a single game that I otherwise couldn't watch, it would cost something like $8 for an AUDIO stream from nfl.com. Now add ESPN and MS fees to that. Screw that. My expectations for this "feature" are about zero. I guess that's probably a good thing.
  • This would get me to finally drop my cable TV. Live sports is the only thing holding me back. I would gladly pay a small subscription fee just for that. I can get everything else online just with my internet connection.
  • Why would ESPN show NFL games?! They don't have the license to do that. They can only show the monday night game... thats it. I live in an area where I get ESPN360, but I don't utilize it a lot. It'd be nice to have something like that on the xbox. It'd help out in viewing soccer matches since those are non-existent currently on ESPN.
  • DAMN M$!! Always trying to get every dollar they can from us. Why would I want to pay for something on my Xbox I can see on cable/satallite that I am already paying for?
  • in the uk, it is cheaper and more worth while to get sky from sky, you get a box and way way way way more channels, plus you don't have to be a gold member either which will pay for the installation. you'd think that it would be cheaper on the xbox seen as you have already bought your viewing box for over £200, you pay £40 a year for gold and you get less channels to view!! just like games on demand, way over priced and anyone with an IQ wouldn't use it.
  • What's interesting is that ESPN is an ABC-owned entity, while MS and NBC are tight.
  • @2 - I agree. I don't understand why people overpay to have television content on their Xbox. Just watch TV instead of using your Xbox all the time. People can afford a console, a TV, controllers, and games, but can't afford cable television?
  • I have the NFL network from comcast so this would be a waste
  • This isn't intended for hardcore gamers, it's for the consumers that MS is targeting, the casual sports gamers.
  • Hmm...I don't see this being that successful. As others have said, most people have cable or satellite on the television that they have their Xbox hooked up to, why would they want to pay for that to be seen on their system? As far as seeing games you might not be able to otherwise, there's a reason sports bars exist and a 10 dollar appetizer is cheaper than paying a subscription service for this.
  • I'm with #16. The only reason I still have cable is for live sports. I got Netflix for movies, I can find all the shows I watch online easily enough. Can still get the broadcast networks without cable, so I would be very interested in this depending on what is offered exactly.
  • only worth it if i can watch all the Bengals games in high def with out crappy stream interference all from the comfort of my living room here in Massachusetts =D ps GO BENGALS... youll get them next year... mark sanchez sucks .
  • The "idea" sounds good, but nothing is as good as it sounds. Too many people will try to get their piece of the pie and you'll end up with an overpriced product that won't deliver as good as the original (cheaper) concept.
  • Knowing Microsoft, it will probably be cheaper to get cable.
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