What ESPN Gets Wrong — and Almost Gets Right — With Streaming Ads

Over one year ago, I conducted a (very) small research study for this column about the spots ESPN inserts in games available on what was then ESPN+. This column is a 2026 version of that study and, appropriately enough, appears in Barrett Media on Groundhog Day.

I’m a Washington Capitals fan and was a season ticket holder for a number of years when I lived in the DC area. Living out of market now, I can get nearly all of the Caps games on the ESPN platform and, even better, I can choose which version to watch — the Caps version or the opponent’s telecast. The only exception is nationally televised games, and I have “traditional” ESPN as well as TBS and TNT, so I’m covered.

ESPN “covers” the local spots with their own when you watch a game on their platform. The amount of repetition of spots was so bad that I tracked all the spots from one game and reported the results in my column of February 3, 2025. One year later, I repeated the “study” using last Tuesday’s Caps-Kraken game. For a Caps fan, the game was terrible, perhaps the worst game the Caps have played all year, losing 5-1 at Climate Pledge Arena.

The study results were mixed. There was some improvement, but three advertisers were allowed to pummel me with frequencies beyond what any normal viewer should endure. And because this is a digital operation, the targeting should be better than linear television.

If the digital world really knows more about me, I’ll need to visit my doctor very soon. Apparently, I have one of the following: Crohn’s Disease, ulcerative colitis, or psoriatic arthritis. How do I know this? I counted 15 spots for Tremfya and, according to Johnson & Johnson, it works on all of those diseases.

Also, the digital systems know something about my history that I never knew. There were ten spots for TikTok, all of which informed me that they have systems in place to protect teens. I don’t have children and have no teens in my household, but TikTok assures me that they’re watching out. And I don’t even have a TikTok account!

Next came Kalshi. In fact, the betting — I mean “trading” — platform showed me nine times that the odds for David against Goliath were pretty long. And with Kalshi, I can bet — I mean “trade” — on anything!

No other advertiser appeared more than three times in the game broadcast, which is reasonable. The only one with three spots was Navy Federal, and each spot was a different execution.

On to the ESPN promos. By my count, there were 31 ESPN promos, with the biggest number for a logical event — the NHL Stadium Series game in Tampa, held on Saturday. Here’s a table for you:

One other improvement over last year was a major reduction in the number of spots that started but were cut by the return to the game coverage. I saw only one this year, and it would have been the fourth promo for the Australian Open.

There is one other issue when one watches a game on ESPN, and that’s the fill. Sometimes it’s a few seconds, and other times it can last for a minute or more. When the system apparently does not have a spot to fill or knows that only a few seconds are left in the break, it puts up a shot of an ESPN building — likely fictitious, but I’ve never visited Bristol — which has windows that highlight various ESPN programs, mostly 30 for 30 episodes. Meanwhile, you see clouds pass in the sky, and the sound is outdoor noise — wind with a few bird chirps. Some words on the screen inform the viewer that the program is in a commercial break, as if we couldn’t figure that out.

Here’s my suggestion to ESPN. What does ESPN do extraordinarily well? Scores and highlights of just about any sporting event in the entire world. Rather than the same boring video, why not put up scores? If I were watching linear ESPN, I’d see scores and headlines continuously at the bottom of the screen. But when I’m on the ESPN platform watching an NHL game — and I assume it’s the same for any other event — I see the same building, the same clouds going by, and hear the same sound.

Monumental Sports, which runs the Caps games as well as Ted Leonsis’ other teams in Washington, doesn’t seem to think that any other NHL games are played whenever the Caps play. There may be a mention of other scores by the announce team, but don’t count on it. ESPN could put up the scores during the break. Perhaps one less promo here and there, replaced with the latest NHL scores and some sports headlines?

Last year, I suggested that ESPN should “eat their own dog food” and have an exec watch a local game on their platform. Perhaps someone did, as this year was marginally better than last year’s review. But much as I love the option to view games of a favorite team, I’m the viewer. I can deal with spots, but can’t the company cap the frequencies? And would it be possible to offer something ESPN excels at — scores and headlines? In the meantime, I’ll talk to my doctor about Tremfya.

Let’s meet again next week.

Dr. Ed Cohen

One of the radio industry’s most respected researchers, Dr. Ed Cohen writes a weekly business column, heavily focused on ratings research for Barrett Media. His career experiences include serving as VP of Ratings and Research at Cumulus Media, occupying the role of VP of Measurement Innovation at Nielsen Audio, and its predecessor Arbitron. While with Arbitron, Cohen spent five years as the company’s President of Research Policy and Communication, and eight years as VP of Domestic Radio Research.

Dr. Ed has also held the title of Vice President of Research for iHeartMedia/Clear Channel, and held research positions for the National Association of Broadcasters and Birch/Scarborough Research. He is adjunct faculty in the Department of Broadcast Communications at Western Kentucky University and welcomes your thoughts. Reach him by email at doctoredresearch@gmail.com.