ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro said the network will not broadcast the national anthem on a weekly basis during the upcoming NFL season, staying consistent with how it has handled the anthem in recent years. Pitaro during an event for members of the media at the company’s Bristol HQ on Friday said, “They (the NFL) have not asked, but as a courtesy we let them know what our plan was.” Pitaro stressed that ESPN was “not a political organization.” He said, “We are going to always cover the intersection of sports and politics, sports and culture. … When someone takes a knee, if we think it’s newsworthy, we’re going to cover it.” ESPN Senior VP/Events & Studio Production Stephanie Druley later noted ESPN has only aired the anthem on "MNF" on three occasions: following Hurricane Harvey, following last October's mass shooting in Las Vegas, and after President Trump's controversial comments about NFL players last year. Druley cited data from fans showing that they "want the game, and that's what they want. So that's where we'll keep our focus." ESPN's Joe Tessitore: "I view it as anything else that's newsworthy. If it's newsworthy and something to cover, then we'll cover it." Meanwhile, Pitaro said he is pleased with the early results on the network’s four-month-old streaming platform ESPN+. Without revealing any specific subscriber numbers, Pitaro said ESPN was “very heartened” by the conversion rate from users who tried the app for free and eventually went on to pay the $4.99 monthly fee. He noted ESPN+ has benefited in recent weeks from high-profile MLS games and Top Rank boxing matches. Pitaro expects the coming football season to only ramp up subscriber numbers.
