ESPN "wants a federal court to force" AL-based College
Sports Production Network (CSPN) Southeast to "change its
name," according to Gilbert Nicholson of the SPORTSBUSINESS
JOURNAL, who reports that the net has filed a lawsuit in a
U.S. District Court in NY claiming that the RSN "looks and
sounds so much like ESPN that consumers will be deceived
into thinking the two networks are affiliated." CSPN
Southeast, which has 25 employees and an "anticipated" reach
of 800,000 HHs, is set to debut on August 16 and says that
it will "launch as scheduled," despite ESPN's request for a
court injunction. The RSN is "expected to be available on
cable systems in the nine states that have SEC teams." It
will feature tape-delayed broadcasts of SEC football and
basketball, as well as some live coverage of events from the
SEC and other area conferences. ESPN Dir of Communications
Mike Soltys says the name CSPN and its business "are too
close to ESPN's to allow this to go unchallenged." Soltys:
"We regret the need to take this action. But ESPN has
worked hard to build its brand and feels very strongly about
protecting it" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/26).
