ESPN (Brazil)


ESPN is the Brazilian division of ESPN Inc. Launched in March 1989 as Canal+, it was the first country-specific version of ESPN outside the United States, launched in June 1995. The channel has covered major sporting events, like the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics; the 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Pan-American Games. High ratings and prestige in the segment have been marks of the channel; it also won the APCA award twice, in 1995 for "Best Sports Programming" and in 1998 for "Best Coverage of the 1998 FIFA World Cup".
Despite having a team that is regarded as one of the best in Brazilian sports broadcasting and important broadcasting rights for international competitions like La Liga, Premier League and the Bundesliga, major local series rights have historically not been present; the Campeonato Brasileiro, Copa do Brasil and the states' championships are held by local Grupo Globo and SporTV. ESPN, however, has purchased the rights to broadcast the 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions of the Copa do Brasil for TV and Campeonato Paulista, Copa Libertadores de América, Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and Copa Sudamericana for radio.
In 2007, ESPN Brasil made a partnership with Rádio Eldorado to broadcast sports on radio. The new Rádio Eldorado ESPN used Eldorado's radio assets and the team of commentators from ESPN Brasil. It was renamed Rádio Estadão ESPN in 2007 due to a partnership agreement with the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper.
In 2005 the company incorporated ESPN International coverage, starting to broadcast in two channels. Before this date, programs such as the SportsCenter International Edition, MLB and the NFL were transmitted directly from Bristol, Connecticut, with Portuguese audio from Andre Adler, Marco Alfaro, Sergio Cesario, Roby Porto, José Inácio Werneck, and Roberto Figueroa. Since 2005, shows and games are recorded and broadcast from its studios in São Paulo, though morning schedules continue to include USA and Latin American programs.
Prior to May 2011, programs produced by ESPN Brasil generally did not use in-game score graphics, though international programs had them. Beginning that month, ESPN Brasil began using the same score and other graphics used by the US channel.
In March 2012, the ESPN'S network in Brazil started with the broadcast 100% in HD with sports events and original programs. This is the same practice of ESPN in USA. The four channels of ESPN in Brazil is broadcast fully in HD.
In October 2013, ESPN launched a second screen app, ESPN Sync, to connect to broadcasts of football matches.
On May 6, 2020, Brazil's antitrust regulator CADE announced that ESPN and Fox Sports could merge their operations in Brazil together as of January 1, 2022, and not before, due to Fox Sports' broadcast rights and structure in the country, with ESPN taking over broadcast rights and structure after the merger.
In November 2021, it was announced that Disney would retire the ESPN Brasil brand after 26 years on air. ESPN Brasil became ESPN, while the current ESPN became ESPN 2, while the current ESPN 2 became ESPN 3, Fox Sports became ESPN 4. The change happened on January 17, 2022 and happened on February 15, 2024 for Fox Sports 2 and ESPN Extra as they became ESPN 5 and ESPN 6.

ESPN channels in Brazil

Five separate channels of ESPN exist in Brazil:
  • ESPN, the main channel, more football orientated with live debate, news, interviews and major international football games.
  • ESPN2, focused in US-based competitions.
  • ESPN3, focused in extreme sports, MLB, tennis, rugby, cycling, golf and poker.
  • ESPN4, focused in motorsport, boxing, MMA and international football.
  • ESPN5, focused in football, and WWE.
  • ESPN6, focused in extreme sports and wrestling.

    ESPN Brazil significant programming rights

Football