The Frog 429 Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 Quote ESPN Classic will go dark on January 1 of 2022, ending a nearly three-decade run of nostalgic pay-TV sports programming. https://deadline.com/2021/11/espn-classic-shutdown-sports-cable-tv-1234867955/ Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18562-espn-classic-shutting-down/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnoxvilleTVFan 286 Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 I read this and I want to take a moment to share something. I remember watching ESPN Classic, because they used to air some classic ESPN broadcasts from their archives such as USFL football and college basketball. What I enjoyed about these classic broadcasts is the fact that they included the original openings for each telecast. As a matter of fact, I remember them airing some classic SportsCenter broadcasts from the time ESPN was celebrating their anniversary. I will say this: ESPN Classic was the best place to turn for nostalgic sports programming and it was a nice place to see classic games from years gone by. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18562-espn-classic-shutting-down/#findComment-266700 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Newsroom 1281 Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 I rarely ever watched ESPN Classic, but I do remember watching reruns of American Gladiators and Celebrity Bowling during their brief runs on the network in the late 2000s and 2010, and enjoying the heck out of them. It's been a long time since I watched ESPN Classic, but I still feel pretty sad about this news and whenever I watched, it was a real good network for its format. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18562-espn-classic-shutting-down/#findComment-266701 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newsjunkie24 506 Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 ESPN has really winded down ESPN Classic for years now, so this was going to happen sooner or later. The channel's been either dropped completely or pushed to higher-priced packages. I used to watch racing reruns and Stump the Schwab on there years ago. With and the advent of YouTube and league/conference channels showing old games, the channel's purpose has decreased in recent years. Sad to see it go in a way, but not surprised either. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18562-espn-classic-shutting-down/#findComment-266702 Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3951 Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 Not surprising to see them go away. It seemed in it's later years, many providers elevated it out of reach to the average viewer... Basically only being available to those who subscribe to the highest tier of service. To get it on DirecTV used to mean having to subscribe to ALL of the premium channels, whatever tier that was. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18562-espn-classic-shutting-down/#findComment-266706 Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickp 337 Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 Cheap Seats on ESPN Classic was one of my favorites ever Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18562-espn-classic-shutting-down/#findComment-266708 Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAVY 10 Fan 233 Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 5 hours ago, The Frog said: https://deadline.com/2021/11/espn-classic-shutdown-sports-cable-tv-1234867955/ Sad to see it go (much of my interest in sports history was from watching old game footage and highlights); but it seems once the major sports leagues launched their own channels, there wasn't much reason for ESPN Classic (to say nothing of the "out of sight, out of mind" perspective. Most likely very few people even knew the channel was still around by the time the announcement of ESPN Classic's official demise was made) Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18562-espn-classic-shutting-down/#findComment-266710 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Rubber 703 Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 3 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said: Not surprising to see them go away. It seemed in it's later years, many providers elevated it out of reach to the average viewer... Basically only being available to those who subscribe to the highest tier of service. To get it on DirecTV used to mean having to subscribe to ALL of the premium channels, whatever tier that was. Yep, I used to watch ESPN Classic before DirecTV elevated it to a tier that was out of reach. At that point, it basically felt like a channel that didn't exist anymore. Back in the early 2000s, I used to enjoy watching their 1990s NASCAR telecasts on ESPN Classic. Their 1990s telecasts were the gold standard of how to do racing coverage right. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18562-espn-classic-shutting-down/#findComment-266715 Share on other sites More sharing options...
VHSgoodiesWA 303 Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 I'm guessing outside of a niche YouTube audience, ESPN Classic is dead to the suits in Bristol, Connecticut. The NFL puts up classic clips on their official channels, and you can watch any big college football highlight going back decades on YouTube... Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18562-espn-classic-shutting-down/#findComment-266726 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmasters1 403 Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 14 hours ago, KnoxvilleTVFan said: What I enjoyed about these classic broadcasts is the fact that they included the original openings for each telecast. Indeed-- one of the best broadcasts I ever saw from there was Game 4 of the 1985 NBA World Championship Series from CBS (what The Finals was known as then, before it started to be called The Finals in 1986). The best part of that broadcast was at the top, w/the remarkably well-done title graphics by Bill Feigenbaum (someone you might not recognize, but I thought you'd want to know about him anyway). Here is that broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-maY5kAlYA 8 hours ago, Spring Rubber said: Yep, I used to watch ESPN Classic before DirecTV elevated it to a tier that was out of reach. At that point, it basically felt like a channel that didn't exist anymore. Back in the early 2000s, I used to enjoy watching their 1990s NASCAR telecasts on ESPN Classic. Their 1990s telecasts were the gold standard of how to do racing coverage right. I've felt the same way about practically any 1980s CBS or NBC broadcast-- graphics, music, announcers, the whole setup. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18562-espn-classic-shutting-down/#findComment-266727 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bars-n-tone 39 Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 I believe ESPN Classic would occasionally run old broadcasts of Battle of the Network Stars, which is amazing every time it's on. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18562-espn-classic-shutting-down/#findComment-266728 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hadley 129 Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 I watched ESPN Classic way before it was even called ESPN Classic. Its original name was Classic Sports Network, and they showed not only classic NBA, NHL, MLB, NCAA basketball and football, golf and classic Wimbledon and US Open tennis, but they also showed plenty of old boxing matches, the game show "Sports Challenge" w/Dick Enberg, plus lots of classic NFL Films stuff, the syndicated documentary/interview series "Greatest Sports Legends", and a PBS show called "The Way It Was" w/Curt Gowdy. That series featured reconstructions of memorable sporting events combining existing archival footage with new play-by-play commentary from the original announcers who called those events, plus in-studio recollections from the athletes who participated in them. I taped a ton of stuff off that channel and I really loved watching it. Here's what it was like back then: Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18562-espn-classic-shutting-down/#findComment-266733 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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