ESPN Acquires National TV Rights to AFL
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By BARRY WILNER  ESPN acquired national TV rights to the Arena Football League on Tuesday and also will have a minority stake in the 19-team indoor league.  The network will have a regular Monday-night slot in which it will televise 14 games from March through June.
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ESPN will launch a new multimedia college sports initiative in March 2005 that includes a new 24-hour television network and content from ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine.
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The jockeying to bring the most popular names from TV and the Web to cell phones produced another exclusive deal yesterday with Verizon Wireless nabbing a multiyear agreement to offer ESPN's flashy feed of sports scores, newscasts, and video highlights on the tiny screen.
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The N.F.L. is learning how much easier it is to sell TV rights to networks than it is to operate its own cable network.
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The Arena Football League enters its third decade with a new broadcast partner that happens to own a portion of the 19-team organization.
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NEW YORK  - When ESPN signed on 25  years ago Tuesday, "SportsCenter" was the first thing viewers  saw.
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Electronic Arts Inc. has signed a 15-year agreement giving it the exclusive right to use the sports channel ESPN brand in its video games.
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Mountain West Conference football and basketball games will move from ESPN to College Sports Television in the fall of 2006.
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ESPN and The Tennis Channel will share U.S. cable TV and multimedia rights for the French Open and Australian Open through 2011 under an agreement announced Tuesday.
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ESPN announced yesterday the signing of Rick Reilly, whose contract with Sports Illustrated expires at the end of November. He will write the back-page column in ESPN the Magazine and deliver essays on âSportsCenterâ during its golf coverage.Reilly said he succumbed to ESPN after rejecting offers 5 and 10 years ago. âThe money was ridiculous,â he said in a news media conference call. âThis is an itch Iâve always wanted to scratch, to take my voice to a different place.â Despite being on TV regularly with one-minute commentaries, he said ESPN wanted him for his column. âBelieve me, with this nose, I know whatâs best for me,â he said.
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ESPN is closing down its cell phone company for sports fans after less than a year, planning instead to forge deals with other wireless operators to offer Mobile ESPN's multimedia content, the majority-owned subsidiary of Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday.
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NEW YORK -- The NBA announced extensions of its television contracts with ESPN/ABC and TNT on Wednesday, deals that will include rights for digital media content.
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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS  NEW YORK - The NFL has offered one free week of its network programming to two cable TV operators who do not carry the channel in hopes of breaking a deadlock.   Commissioner Roger Goodell told The Associated Press on Tuesday the week of Dec.
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Fox Sports Networks will carry Arena League regular-season games on 11 of its regional networks in a deal announced Thursday.
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How signing NASCAR's first nationwide TV deal helped grow the sport.
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NEW YORK &#151; ESPN is relaunching its shuttered cell phone service through Verizon Wireless, this time delivering its flashy feed of sports scores, news and video highlights through a top industry player instead of competing for subscribers with its own full-blown wireless brand.
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As promised, ESPN will re-launch its mobile brand through a major carrier, signing a multi-year exclusive agreement with Verizon Wireless. The feature will be available to subscribers of the company's V CAST service.