ESPNews

ESPNews is part of the ESPN family of channels. This channel changed its purpose and course over the years. Now, it is the place where ESPN hosts a number of roles for the ESPN network, although not many center solely around news itself.

Launching in 1997, ESPNews started as a channel devoted to covering sports stories and highlights. It was a 24-hour channel, and it fit the trend of other networks of making a channel where audiences could join at any time. Content on the channel included a more in-depth bottom line, daytime news shows and other forms to keep audiences updated.

Gradually, the company phased out that side of the channel. SportsCenter’s revamped style and dedication to daytime slots took away from what the channel did for years. Now, it serves a different purpose.

For one, the channel provides simulcasts of games and events, especially with radio shows and talk shows. Similarly, these forms of content now dominate the scheduling for ESPNews. Reruns of radio shows and debate shows that people may miss during regularly scheduled hours air throughout the day.

As the channel frequently uses content from its sister channels, much of the content is in English only. Spanish shows and programs go through ESPN Deportes or ESPN+, the paid-subscription service.

ESPNews often requires an additional sports package for cable providers. However, satellite TV from DISH or DirecTV includes the channel in the packages. For streaming options, YouTube TV, Hulu and fuboTV all have the channel, but there is a chance an extra fee may be required.

Soccer coverage from ESPNews

ESPN uses the channel as a means of helping with overflow content, among other reasons.

When one channel’s event or game overruns its allotted time and takes away from the next program, ESPNews starts that next event. For example, college football on Saturdays uses ESPNews often. ESPN rarely schedules games directly on the channel. If there are back-to-back games on ESPN, there is potential for timing conflict. Let’s say the first game goes to overtime, ESPNews will air the beginning of the second game while the first game finishes. That way, fans of teams in the second game do not miss action.

This also applies to soccer. ESPN broadcast the entire UEFA Euro 2020 tournament on the linear ESPN channel. When Denmark played Finland, Christian Eriksen’s frightening incident suspended the game for roughly an hour, ESPN continued showing that contest. With the Belgium-Russia game scheduled for just after, that game kicked off on ESPNews. Once the Denmark-Finland game concluded, coverage switched over to the dedicated ESPN channel.

With a continued presence of soccer on ESPN, there will be times when soccer makes its way over to ESPNews. However, ESPN seems to prefer to have their soccer based solely on streaming platforms. LaLiga, Bundesliga, UEFA World Cup Qualifiers, MLS and other leagues all tend to go through ESPN’s set of streaming services.

Still, there is the chance that ESPNews broadcasts soccer games. Unfortunately, it only seems to be the case when other channels do not have the capacity to show the games.