Hey All,

I have a long running arguement with a buddy of mine about these "gimmick phones" like ESPN Mobile. It actually started a while back when the rumors of a iPhone (Mac) first started circulating.

I still contend that these things will flop horribly, but now that the ESPN product has been out for a while, has anyone here invested in it? If so, do you like it??

There just simply isn't enough sports news to justify the extra costs of these things. Why pay all that money for access to information that is stagnant for 16 out of every 24 hours, and on a yearly basis only applicable to a couple major sports at a time since all our major sports are staggered throughout the year.

Looking into buying one soon.

When you're a sports junkie like me, it's a good fit IMO. And you really don't pay that much more. Hell, the plan I'm looking at is $40 a month + tax, that's only $10 more than I'd be paying staying with Sprint (ESPN uses Sprint's PCS network, but I digress).

ESPN mobile is flopping.

How do you know? Any articles out there? Seriously.

Is it more cause it's a niche service or because people are scared to go away from the big companies? I did kinda figure in the back of my mind that's why they've come down on prices so much, but I'm honestly curious about this.

I have the ESPN Bottomline on my Verizon phone, thats all I need. I can't see buying a new cell just for that or for a "chocolate mp3 player/cell phone" :rolleyes:

That's the thing. It seems like just a standard phone with a decent web browser can get you almost the same thing as these extra packages. I can see sports fanatics or tech-heads wanting it, but that's such a miniscule market. Certainly not big enough to warrant the constant promotion.

I'm almost rooting for Apple to release an iPhone, just so I can watch all the Mac zealots run out and buy it at the usual Apple premium, then try to justify why someone who already owns a nano, iPod video and cell phone needs a phone with MP3 player capabilities.

Back in June, Wall Street Journal and Merrill Lynch reported that ESPN was missing it's target subscribers by a humoungous amount. Analysts were predicting around 250,000 subscribers after the first year, but by the end of 6 months (June), ESPN Mobile had a whopping 10,000 subscribers. Oops..

One Article

\'Nother One

CNET Article about these types of Cell Phone services in general

Considering how poorly Disney has been doing the past few years, I can't see them being able to keep a losing product on the market for too long, before their investors start raising hell.

Just heard that they are pulling the plug on ESPN Mobile. I hope none of you have it:

Mobile ESPN to close down operations: WSJ

Nismo is correct. Mobile ESPN, not ESPNMobile, is shutting down service as a total service provider. Instead it will become an application very much like the Verizon MusicCast, etc. that will probably start out on the Sprint Network and then move on to other networks if they are willing to pay for it.

I have some inside information, well, not truly anything special, more I just work for ESPN so there have been enough rumors flying around.

I wasn't happy when it first came out and have to say that I got it because of our Employee discout as a second phone. The services are one of a kind and I think that it will flurish over time.

The most recent struggle was that Mobile ESPN was only a single service. There was no family plans, no alternatives to give the younger members of the family, etc.

I'm just waiting to see now if Disney Mobile might pull the plug before they get in too deep.

Well, glad I decided to go a different route.

It would be awesome if they stuck with Sprint though.

Since Sprint has the NFL contract and NFL is the largest producer of money for ESPN, I wouldn't be suprised. I'm sure too since all of the material, video, updates, are already being sent over the Sprint Network the network is prepared for it, they would just need to install the application on the phones themselves, a pretty minor thing if you ask me.

And for those that aren't "insiders"... Here's an article on it:

ESPN Mobile to be sold, discontinued, or repackaged