ESPN launched onto our screens in the UK in 2009, and has since become one of the leading broadcasters in football coverage.
While the channel gives air time to plenty of other sports, they have since handed over their rights to broadcast Premier League football to BT Sport from next season.
One particular aspect that ESPN are known for is having an ad-free full-day coverage on FA Cup final day, which Sports Mole were lucky enough to get a behind-the-scenes look at.
Here, senior executive TV producer Andrew 'Buzz' Hornett tells us and a group of other reporters how their FA Cup coverage gives ESPN the edge, and what are his best memories over the last few years.
On the preparations that go into producing the channel's 12-hour FA Cup final day coverage
"Realistically we've been thinking about it all season, all year, probably from the last Cup final saying what could we have done better, what could we have done differently? Technically the planning is several months out, editorially it's several months out because you're thinking we could film little bits here, there and everywhere. Can we get these people together? So, there's quite a lot of planning, and rehearsing has been all this week."
Discussing what will happen next for the ESPN team
"Some people are going to BT, some people are going elsewhere. TV's a fairly small world, sports TV is very small and I think lots of people move on to different companies, that happens. I think I could walk into the ITV truck and know everybody as much as I know everybody in the ESPN truck. I think generally there's sport to be covered, programmes to be made and I think we have a really good team and I expect them all to find really good jobs."
How ESPN's full-day FA Cup final coverage gives them an edge over their competitors
"I think [it does], but I think we have the opportunity as a sports channel. People have said that it's taking us back to the 1970s when we'd have blanket coverage, but if you go back to the '70s, you'll actually find that they started about 11am and the game kicked off at 3pm.
"Today is possibly the longest ever build-up to an FA Cup final and the thing I found amusing about that is, I've gone round to all the producers, and each show has a different producer, and each one of them's gone, 'Oh, I want more time'. I think if you break it down into different elements and you have a priority and you try to reflect moods throughout the day and entertain, then I think it's actually very easy to fill that time.
"So, yes, I think it's given us a huge advantage over others and we're also able to go ad free. It's a very simple mantra to say 'serve the fans' and if you just think as a fan all the time, it really makes decision-making very easy and I've gone, 'I don't want adverts'. Then we've worked out that we don't need to show adverts, why not serve the fan better? That gives us a huge advantage over terrestrial channels."
Speaking of how viewing figures for football coverage far exceeds other televised sports
"We get up to, I suppose, about one million people watching Premier League matches and that would compare to 100,000 for the next best sport. It is 10 times more watched. People talk about variety of sport's important but people also want variety of football. What we've offered is lots of different leagues - we do women's football, women's Premier League, we do lots of European leagues. So, it's amazing that we're all football fans. I'll spend most of my evenings watching a football match in a very sad way, but football is the national game, I think it's what people love and I think we just see the culmination of it here."
Highlights of the last three or four years
"I love FA Cup final day! I think getting on air [was one]. The first one was getting into a job and being told that we've got Premier League and you're on air in six weeks. I think that first day on air were highlights but we've had some fun along the way like Cup upsets. However, I think Cup final day is special and I think it's always been special.
"I think there's been, maybe from the football world, that money has made everyone think that in the Premier League, coming fourth is more important, but it's not actually what the fan thinks. It's a special day and it's definitely got to be probably the highlight. There are lots of other highlights - the rugby team that we put together and Mark Durden-Smith doing silly things!
"We've also taken the attitude that when things go wrong, actually it's okay. Everything goes wrong at some point - things for us haven't gone wrong, touch wood, very often, but when they do, as long as you don't take yourself too seriously, it doesn't matter. Take the sport seriously, yes, but don't take yourself too seriously and I think you'll see that. I think in a 12-hour live day, some things will go wrong, but I hope that it won't feel like things have gone wrong and actually things that go wrong are an opportunity to enjoy it."
