Owner ESPN Registration Optional Current status Active | Launched 1995 as SoccerNet | |
ESPN FC (formerly ESPN SoccerNet) is a website owned by ESPN, which covers association football. Originally established in 1995 as SoccerNet, the website was acquired by ESPN in 1999.
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History
Originally titled SoccerNet, the website was established by Greg Hadfield and his then-teenage son Tom in 1995, initially providing live score updates, tables and news articles. Greg, at that time, worked for the Daily Mail and in order to gain capital effectively rescinded ownership of the site to his bosses in return for £40,000 and a revenue sharing scheme.
In 1999, Buena Vista Internet Group (BVIG) acquired a controlling interest of 60 percent in SoccerNet from the Daily Mail and General Trust for £15M.
Television programme
On 11 August 2016, ESPN launched a studio programme on ESPN2 dedicated to football, also known as ESPN FC. The programme airs on weekday evenings, and a weekly recap show airs on Sunday nights. The programme is hosted by Dan Thomas and Max Bretos. Regular contributors include Craig Burley, Shaka Hislop, Alejandro Moreno, Steve Nicol, Paul Mariner, Raphael Honigstein, Gabriele Marcotti, Brian McBride, Taylor Twellman, Ian Darke, Kasey Keller, Tommy Smyth, Frank LeBoeuf, Stewart Robson, Sid Lowe, Uli Hesse, Nilton Batata and Santiago Solari.
Controversy
On November 21, 2013, Phil Ball was subject to accusations of propaganda on behalf of Qatar's bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Ball wrote a piece for ESPN FC titled 'Inside Doha: Give Qatar A Chance To Shine.' However, the article was later removed from ESPN's website after negative reaction to Ball's in-article claims that he was "invited on an all-expenses paid trip to see the inner workings." ESPN FC announced in a tweet that they had "carefully re-evaluated ... [their] recent Qatar story and decided to remove it. It did not meet ... [their] journalistic standards. We apologize."