ESPN Mobile Closes It’s Doors
Posted by Sean Fallon on September 29, 2006
Filed Under Cellphones | Stumble This
ESPN is pulling the plug on their mobile unit after less than a year of service. In that time ESPN and Disney spent over $150 million in development, but only managed to attract a small number of subscribers.
ESPN will continue to provide service to current customers until the end of the year. They will also refund the purchase price for handsets and provide assistance with transferring customers to other carriers.
ESPN Mobile content might re-emerge as a service provided by other carriers somewhere down the line, but no deals have been reached.
Was ESPN ahead of it’s time or does the entire idea of a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) need to be rethought?
| Trackback |Comments
2 Responses to “ESPN Mobile Closes It’s Doors”
Leave a Reply
[...] According to UBS analyst John Hodulik, Apple will introduce MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) wireless service via the iPhone in ‘07. This is one of the rumors that I’m half-hearted on. Although I think that Apple is certainly capable, seeing as how iTunes revolutionized (legally) downloadable music, I also see the utter failure of ESPN Mobile as a warning sign for when content gets tangled up within the realm of carriers. [...]
[...] months after closing it’s doors, Mobile ESPN will be relaunched through Verizon Wireless - a move that just might give ESPN the [...]