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SALT LAKE CITY — Throughout the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, people picked up new hobbies and new obsessions to take their minds off a seemingly crumbling social order. Whether it was baking sourdough, playing video games or binging Netflix, everyone had something.
For 5.6 million people, that something was ESPN's "The Last Dance."
The documentary — which quickly became the most-watched documentary content ever on ESPN — is an epic, no-holds-barred retelling of the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls and their quest to become the most storied dynasty in the NBA, winning six championships from 1991 to 1998 (sorry, Jazz fans).
In the same arena where former Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tried to make light of uncertain times by touching recorders and microphones at a press conference before eventually testing positive for COVID-19 prior to the NBA suspending its season, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro on Wednesday spoke about the present and future of ESPN at the Silicon Slopes Summit.
Reaching younger audiences
"I saw the news that the NBA was pausing (and) immediately jumped on the phone," Pitaro said. "A bunch of us jumped into a conference room and started (to) ask the obvious questions: What are we going to do? How are we going to power our networks? How are we going to populate these networks with content?"
Enter "The Last Dance."
"We were really forced to innovate," Pitaro said.
"Of course, we were all very excited about 'The Last Dance' but it wasn't on the schedule to launch until, I believe, end of June 2020," Pitaro said "Long story short, with all credit to the creatives behind the project ... they scrambled and they were able to get it up for us in early April."
Pitaro said that ESPN's original content like "The Last Dance" and "30 for 30" is what's at the heart of the company. The success of the company's documentaries also helped Pitaro realize how ESPN could remain not just relevant, but a go-to source of entertainment for younger audiences.
"If you look at our research, it's pretty clear that sports fans — especially younger sports fans — are very focused on individual athletes," Pitaro said. "What we're seeing ... younger people stick with their players."
With this in mind, ESPN is trying to create content through the lens of storytelling centered around individual athletes and their unique stories, much to the delight of younger audiences. This doesn't mean that ESPN will abandon its traditional ways of pushing sports to the masses. In other words, "SportsCenter" is safe.
Another piece of the pie is creating alternative broadcast forms for traditional sporting events.
One such example that Pitaro spoke about is the "ManningCast" option for viewing ESPN's Monday Night Football games. This alternative broadcast features former NFL quarterbacks and brothers Peyton and Eli Manning, calling the games live from their homes via webcam.
"It couldn't be going better. We caught lightning in a bottle on that but I honestly can't say that that program would even exist but for COVID," Pitaro said. "We're constantly asking ourselves, 'How can we add more value to the leagues (and) our partners? How can we add more value to sports fans that might be looking for something a little bit different?'"
What's next for ESPN?
With the success of programs like "The Last Dance" and "ManningCast," Pitaro said that viewers can expect to see ESPN continue to push the envelope when it comes to sports media.
"Our top priority is making our primary channels, our flagship channels available over the top," Pitaro said. "There's going to come a point in time where we make our primary channels available to you all à la carte so you can just pay a fee and access all of ESPN, not just that sliver that's available now on ESPN+. There will come a time where you can pay us a fee and access all of ESPN without subscribing to that traditional cable or satellite."
He also mentioned investing in social media and creating content as a huge priority for ESPN — another aspect that helps the company maintain relevancy with younger audiences.
"One of the best ways to do that from my perspective is by being present on these third-party social platforms. And when I say present, I'm not just talking about marketing. We all know we can market on those platforms but how do we create native, organic sports experiences — compelling sports experiences — on those platforms that really resonate," Pitaro said.
ESPN's presence on social media often leads to users spending more time on its traditional channels, Pitaro added.
Despite ESPN's successes as the leader in sports media, the company is still trying to become more inclusive and accessible, bringing even more people into the wide world of sports.
"How do we expand the audience? That's a constant focal point of ours at ESPN," Pitaro said.
