ESPN Would Like To Remind You Of Its Omnipotence

Let's say, hypothetically speaking, that instead of watching Game One of the NBA Finals last night, you decided your evening would be better spent watching the MLS game between the Colorado Rapids and the Houston Dynamo on ESPN2. That wouldn't be our choice, but whatever: You just love the MLS and enjoy the counter-programming.

So, you flip to ESPN2 at gametime, ready for some soccer ... and ESPN has decided to crosspromote instead. Off Wing Opinion tells the tale.

I was channel surfing when I saw that ESPN 2 was scheduled to show its regular Thursday night MLS match. I figured it wouldn't be a bad way to spend the evening. Then again, ESPN has other ideas. When I clicked on ESPN 2, what I got was the pre-game show for Game One of the NBA Finals. The following was running on the crawl at the bottom of the screen: "You are watching the first few minutes of ABC's coverage of game 1 of the NBA Finals. For complete game coverage, tune to your local ABC station. Major League Soccer: Colorado Rapids vs. Houston Dynamo can be seen at the conclusion of NBA coverage."

That's right: ESPN preempted live event coverage to show promotional programming that was already running live on another network. It's not like another game ran late or something; they just decided they'd rather try to get you to watch the NBA than let you watch the MLS. (And this was the same pregame coverage that was on ABC!) Whatever your thoughts on the MLS ... that's pretty harsh.

ESPN Thinks You Should Be Watching The NBA, Not MLS [Off Wing Opinion]