The ESPN business model was always destined to fail. It is almost a textbook business case study at a certain point.
There are two roads you could choose to look at.
The first one would be the company that became great by focusing on one thing and doing it better than anyone else.
Then, out of hubris, all of a sudden, the company tries to do a little bit of everything.
Ultimately, all of these various “interests” lead the company to become half assed at almost everything because they are just stretched too thin to really focus on the one or two things that they do better than anyone else.
You see this example play out in the way a brand like Apple lost its way in the 90s, getting into everything computer associated to the point that nothing was really worth buying.
The second road is one where the diversification of revenue streams was never really there and so much faith was put in the primary revenue source that the diversification of revenue was never emphasized. Or, when it was finally prioritized, it was much too late.
You pick.
Either one, or a combination of both, tells you all you need to know about why ESPN is in the situation they are in today.
This kind of decision making isn’t really what leads to sustainable businesses.
The way that you overcome these things is being clear about your mission, your unique value.
By the looks of ESPN’s mission statement, focus had waned in this area over the years.
ESPN Mission Statement: To serve sports fans wherever sports are watched, listened to, discussed, debated, read about or played.
— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) September 22, 2011
This is a bit unwieldily and a bit cluttered.
I think they’ve thrown around the tagline “The Worldwide Leader In Sports” for a long time and focusing on that would have kept them aligned and targeting the right things.
Once you are clear on your value, you must understand your customer.
A lot of the rapid changes in programming, concepts, and strategy feel like an organization unmoored and unsure of who the customer really is.
Over the years, I have found that if you are uncertain of your mission, you are uncertain of your customer.
This sort of all fits together.
But you have to figure it out.
Who is the customer?
What do they value?
How can I create something that is meaningful to them?
Finally, when you have the mission and customer, you can begin looking at the ways that reach them effectively.
This is a practice that should be happening constantly.
If you aren’t always in the middle of looking at this kind of stuff, you will find yourself stagnant or trapped in a business model that no longer works.
If you are a fan of ESPN, you saw the ramifications yesterday.