NEW YORK — Having grown up in the suburbs of New York City, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro is a rabid New York Yankees fan, so he of course favorites the team on the ESPN app. And like any good Yankees fan, he wants to know what’s going on with the dark force up north, the Boston Red Sox. One problem: to do so requires favoriting a team on the app and on ESPN.com to get updates.
“And so I actually want to see the Red Sox score right after the Yankees score, because I care, and I very much care, and the only way for me to get that is, that personalized way is for me to favorite the Boston Red Sox, which obviously I’m not going to do,” Pitaro told reporter Andrew Marchand at an event entitled Off the Record and sponsored by WSC Sports.
That’s why ESPN is working on what it dubs “rivals mode.” Instead of favoriting a team, a user would select rivals instead and keep their heart pure.
“And so you will be able to pick your favorites, and you will be able to pick your rivals, or your favorites, so I would get my Red Sox score,” Pitaro said.
The big development in Jimmy Pitaro’s universe this year is the long-awaited launch of ESPN’s direct to consumer platform, which will be the first time ESPN is available without a cable subscription. Pitaro wanted to clear up some confusion around it: there is not going to be a standalone DTC app, it will be the current app but improved.
Users will either authenticate through their pay-TV subscriptions, or their new DTC subscription.
“There’s a misconception in the industry that we are launching a new flagship app this fall,” he said. “We are not. The app exists. It’s called ESPN, and that app, as I said before, and I carefully chose my words just now, that app will be significantly enhanced, but it is the ESPN app that you see today, and the idea is, you fire it up, you authenticate or you purchase ESPN direct to the consumer.”
ESPN is still working on a name for the direct to consumer product as well as pricing. The secular decline of the pay TV bundle that is driving the sprint to digital across media will not slow down any time soon, Pitaro predicted.
At its peak in 2010, cable reached over 100 million homes. That figure is down roughly 40 to 50 percent, and the drop is continuing.
“Look, I don’t have a crystal ball,” Pitaro said. “I don’t see it slowing down for the next couple of years. Could it level off at 35 or 40 million households? It could, because there’s value there, right?…. It’s challenging to have 15 different apps and usernames and passwords and all those charges on your credit card.”
One new app feature, at least for ESPN, will be a catch up option. Say you turn on the game 45 minutes late, catch up will bring you a curated series of plays to that point and bring the viewer up to the live action. WSC, the AI firm hosting the Pitaro interview, is tasked with developing the technology to make it happen. Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime has a similar feature.
WSC is also charged with developing the personalized SportsCenter that will feature on the enhanced app. Peacock’s Olympic coverage last year allowed users to customize a daily highlight program narrated by Al Michaels.
Asked about the years-long talk ESPN would buy NFL Network, Jimmy Pitaro declined to comment directly, but sounded slightly skeptical.
“There’s not a huge opportunity, really, to grow the portfolio,” he said. “The opportunity is to improve the presentation of the game and around the game, and that’s where some of the things that I mentioned before around fantasy. I mean, our fantasy business is a juggernaut. Betting gets all the attention right now. I’m a huge fan and supporter of our fantasy business, especially from an engagement and ad sales monetization perspective.”
On the most important subject of the discussion – how the Yankees will do this season – Pitaro expressed confidence that despite the season-ending injury to Gerrit Cole, the pinstripes would reach the postseason.
“And then I think by the time the playoffs come around, Cole won’t be back, but I think there are other pitchers and (Giancarlo) Stanton will be back,” he said. “I am optimistic.”