ESPN Classic gets contemporary look, feel

ESPN Classic old logo

Ross Hair, MD, ESPN Europe, Middle East & Africa, said, "With nearly a decade of heritage in Europe, the channel has earned a place in the minds of sports fans and evolved along the way.

"The new look aims to better reflect its identity as a place where fans can find context and a celebration of the culture, legends and heritage of sport. Coupled with the refined programming approach and the new content, it reinforces its position as a part of the growth and vision of our business in the region and our ongoing strategy to create more continuity between the channels and brands in our portfolio."

New look

ESPN Classic new logo

The new on-air look and feel includes:

• Dynamic contemporary art by five global artists from the UK, Germany, France and the Philippines - Andreas Preis, Jama Noor, Florian Nicolle, Aj Dimarucot and Federico Carra - have each created unique portraits of four athletes, telling their stories through dynamic original imagery;
• New musical score by Hear No Evil and electronic musician, Si Begg, a DJ and producer who has performed across the globe, has created five original compositions representing the themes as well as the achievements of the sports legends to accompany the new on-air graphics;
• New programming, including a new deal for 80 hours of FA Cup, international football, Formula 1 races, test cricket, international rugby, horse racing and documentaries of archive sports footage from the BBC.

Refined programming strategy

The channel also gets a refined programming strategy under the direction of ESPN EMEA VP and channel manager, Jeroen Oerlemans, and new senior director of programming, ESPN EMEA, Simon Potter. Leveraging the new look and feel, it will create more continuity with the brand's growing portfolio of other channels and digital properties and better cross-promote related destinations and content that viewers may find compelling on those other brand media.

For more, go to www.espnclassic.com.