Rivalry with NBC has a starring role in new book on ESPN

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In particular, I was struck with the ferocity of ESPN’s rivalry with NBC. The book details a bitter multi-decade feud between ESPN and ABC Sports. Since ESPN shed the ABC Sports brand in 2006, it seems that NBC has stepped in to carry the mantle as ESPN’s most bitter rival.

In a quote that is certain to make the rounds in Bristol, Conn., this week, Ebersol tells Miller and Shales, “But there’s very little that they do anymore that’s much better than some local cable operation. That’s hard to believe with all the resources they have and the army of people and all that, but nobody seems to care. That’s what I mean when I say they lost their way in terms of quality and everything else.”

Sitting in a Manhattan café following ESPN’s upfront presentation last week, I asked Miller about that quote, and he said it reflects a real sense of competitiveness between the two sports media companies.

“NBC and ESPN are like the Bears and the Packers. They are like the Yankees and the Red Sox,” Miller said. “They are very, very competitive with each other.”

Miller believes a lot of that competitiveness stems from the fact that many of NBC’s top-flight producers and talent left ESPN and ABC Sports — many on less than good terms. Miller referenced people like Al Michaels, John Madden, Fred Gaudelli and Drew Esocoff. They have remained competitive with their former employer, and their former employer has remained competitive with them.

“Those are pretty important people who left,” he said, “and I think that contributes to some of the competitiveness.”
With NBC now overseeing Comcast’s cable sports channels, Versus and Golf Channel, the competition has become even more intense. ESPN and NBC fought over the rights to the NHL (which went to NBC) and the Pac-10 (which went to ESPN and Fox). Next month, they will be dueling for Olympic rights.

The intense competition also can be seen during the NFL season, when NBC and ESPN compete more than any other of the league’s network partners, due to the fact that they split the NFL’s two full-season prime-time packages.