The "rivalry" between Fox Sports Net (FSN) and ESPN
"may well take its place" among the list of sports'
"greatest natural rivalries," according to Scott Hettrick of
the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, who wrote that for the past three
years, FSN has "been trying to bait ESPN into a battle of
bravado by trash-talking ESPN in the media," by "stealing
high-profile" talent, such as Keith Olbermann and Chris
Myers, and "literally rubbing the nose -- and head -- of
Olbermann in ESPN's face." ESPN has "played the role of the
sage veteran sports star refusing to be drawn into a war of
words with the hotshot rookie upstart. But in recent
months, ESPN has been more inclined to go toe-to-toe with
some vitriol of its own." Hettrick: "Interestingly, now
that ESPN has accepted the challenge of publicly blasting
the opponent, Fox has suddenly chosen to lay low for the
time being." Fox Sports Senior VP/Media Relations Vince
Wladika: "We're downplaying it and they are up tempo-ing it
a bit. We're just going about our own business and building
on what we've created." But one ESPN source said: "We
decided it was time to fight back on a selective basis."
ESPN Exec Editor John Walsh says that all of FSN's marketing
spending "has still not brought Fox an audience that is
anywhere comparable to ESPN's." Walsh: "We know that
someone will attract some part of the audience when they
spend lots of money, but Fox has proved that they can't buy
their way into a sports fan's heart." Walsh adds, "In head-
to-head news shows, we're getting five times their
audience." Olbermann "takes issue" with comparisons between
the three-year-old FSN and the 20-year-old ESPN and feels
that it will take "at least three to five years to be
competitive." Olbermann, on the verbal sparring between the
two: "We won't gain points by pointing out what kind of
morons work in the other building. We need to be a little
bit more elegant than ESPN" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 10/15).
