ESPN Declines Comment On Arena League Skipping 2009

AFL could be latest sports casualty of flailing economy

By Ben Grossman -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/10/2008 9:52:00 AM

The economic troubles continue to assail the sports world, as ESPN is declining to comment on reports that the Arena Football League, in which it has a minor, non-management financial interest, will cease operations for the 2009 season.
"We have always admired the AFL's fan-first philosophy, but we have no comment on their business activity," said an ESPN spokesperson on Wednesday.
Multiple news outlets are reporting the indoor football league will look to return in 2010.
The news comes as several television sports properties are cutting back in the wake of the flailing economy.
A read through Wednesday’s edition of the definitive sports trade publication, The Sports Business Daily, includes reports of layoffs at the National Football League, DirecTV dumping its NASCAR Hot Pass package and Fox losing its Major League Baseball pre-game show.

Talkback

We would love your feedback!

Post a comment

» View All Talkback Threads

Related Content

• Topics
• Author

PVI Helps MLB Deliver Targeted Ads During World Series

10/26/2007

Yahoo to Give Video Site New, Content-Rich Makeover

08/02/2007

MultiDyne Founder Jachetta Dies

09/04/2008

MASN to Launch HD Channel

09/17/2008

Sports Leagues, ESPN Take Field vs. Unlicensed Mobile Devices

05/01/2008

Also by this author

• Sony and Oprah Eye 2010 Launch For Nate Berkus Show 

• 'Meet the Browns' Set for Fall 2010 Syndication

• Left Coast Bias: What They Said…and What They Meant

• Left Coast Bias: What Recovery?

• Tartikoff Awards Announced

Also by Ben Grossman

Product Wire

• Resource Center
• Browse Categories
• Browse Companies

Featured Company

• Digital Rapids

  

  Digital Rapids is the leading provider of professional hardware and software tools, technology and expertise for bringing video to wider audiences and new viewing platforms. Continuing to set new standards in quality, productivity and versatility... more

• Akamai

  

  Akamai provides market-leading managed services for powering rich media, dynamic transactions, and enterprise applications online. Having pioneered the content delivery market one decade ago, Akamai's services have been adopted by the world's most... more

• Telestream

  

  Telestream products are used by the world's leading media and entertainment companies and corporations for transcoding and workflow automation. Telestream helps customers transform their media for multiplatform distribution to web, mobile, DVD... more

• JVC

  

  JVC U.S.A. is a division of JVC Americas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Victor Company of Japan, Limited. JVC is a leading developer and manufacturer of sophisticated audio and video products that use superior technologies to deliver high... more

---

Most Recent Resources

• Robust Encoding, Transcoding and Streaming Systems – Critical...
• Simultaneous Multi-Format Encoding for Efficient Content Repurposing
• Broadband Services: The Turning Point
• Digital Lifestyles and the Service Provider
• IPTV and the Digital Home