[ESPN](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/espn/) will use this year’s NBA Finals to tee up its big bet on direct-to-consumer.
The sports giant will debut a new brand campaign with the tagline “Sports Forever” during the series, leaning into its heritage on TV, and setting the stage for its “next era” on whatever device viewers choose.
The spot, which you can watch below, features a clip from ESPN’s first ever broadcast on Sept. 7, 1979, with anchor Lee Leonard introducing viewers to “sports heaven.” In the background, as clips of Leonard are interspersed with current athletes, teams and games, an anthemic version of ESPN’s “dadada, dadada” sound plays in the background.
“That is literally the first broadcast, the first words ever spoken on ESPN broadcast,” says Sinan Dagli of BSSP, the creative agency behind the campaign. “And we talked about it as almost this prophecy that he’s like, setting out this oracle who is setting out the next four decades right from the beginning, it’s not modified at all, this is what he said, and it is perfect for ushering us into the new era.”
The Sports Forever campaign will kick off an extended marketing effort for ESPN, building up to the launch of the ESPN streaming service later this year.
“Sports Forever is a campaign that emphasizes that being a fan is not just a momentary engagement, it’s a lifelong journey, and that ESPN has been on that journey now for over four decades, with many generations of fans connecting them to sport as well,” says ESPN senior VP of marketing Jo Fox. “That was the sort of starting spot, and we wanted to make sure that we’re raising our share of voice and really hitting on ESPN’s legacy and leadership in the sports space, before we then do our product launch later in the fall.”
The inaugural spot ends with a sports fan on the couch, picking up their phone as the ESPN “dadada, dadada” chime plays. A text block says “Fall 2025: The Next Era Begins,” teeing up the streaming service.
“We will have a really large launch campaign in the fall, which will talk about the two jobs we have to do. One is, of course, about launching our direct to consumer service, and that is something we’ll have to explain a lot because we’ve had such a long history within the cable bundle. And the second is about all the features that we have coming to the enhanced app,” Fox says of the next phase of the campaign. “So there’s quite a lot to say in that messaging when we go to launch, but we wanted to make sure before we did that and we started talking through these what will be quite comprehensive messages in our campaign that we reminded consumers, reminded fans, that ESPN has the authority in this space and the leadership in this space to really give this to fans, to give them an amazing sports experience that they’ve had before.”
You can watch the inaugural ESPN Sports Forever brand spot, below.