Gone are the days when a sports fan could locate their favorite team’s game quickly on a predictable outlet. Instead, broadcast contracts are divided among many media outlets, with sporting events appearing on dozens of broadcast, cable and regional sports networks, as well as streaming services. In fact, it’s gotten so tough that ESPN thinks that the biggest win for sports fans may just be having an easy way to figure out where an event is being offered in time to catch the opening kick-off, tip-off or puck drop.

Disney’s ESPN set out to solve the sports discovery problem with its new “Where to Watch” feature. Offered on its main app and website, the feature helps viewers instantly locate any sports event appearing on ESPN platforms and elsewhere, including cable and broadcast networks or streaming services. ESPN is aiming for this feature be comprehensive across the market, not just for ESPN and ABC properties, because the goal is to solve fan fragmentation and frustration.

Where to Watch, which debuted in August, showcases tens of thousands of events across dozens of leagues. Included are events from the NFL, NCAA football, NCAA men’s and women’s basketball, MLB, NHL, NBA, WNBA, NASCAR, UFC, F1, PGA Tour, MLS, tennis majors, Premier League, Champions League, and other live sports events that air on Disney’s ESPN platforms—with plans to grow.

We recently spoke with Casey Grabbe, senior director of ESPN Strategy, and Chris Jason, executive director of ESPN product management, on the development and objectives of this ambitious feature.

The feature aims to solve fragmentation

“Where to Watch is an easy-to-use guide for sports fans to locate any sports event on ESPN platforms and beyond. That includes broadcast, cable and regional sports networks and streaming services,” Jason explained. “From Where to Watch, fans can view all the sports events for an entire day, along with the network or service on which to find them, with quick one-click access to ESPN network streams for pay TV authenticated users and ESPN+ subscribers.”

Beyond just ESPN, fans are also linked directly to select partner networks, which currently include regional sports networks such as NESN and Monumental Sports, Jason said. Fans can search for events, filter, and customize the guide to prioritize their favorite teams and leagues.

“This makes for a fast and easy to discover what they care about most, all tied to their ESPN profile and personalization preferences,” Jason explained.

The motivation behind the Where to Watch feature was simple: reduce complexity.

Disney’s internal research found that sports fans are confused about where to find games, according to Grabbe. As sports viewing has become fragmented across many TV networks and streaming platforms, it has also become difficult and confusing for people to know where they can watch their favorite teams, players, and sports.

“We are hoping to solve that consumer pain point by creating a centralized home for sports viewing information with an intuitive interface that is easily accessible from within their daily routine of visiting ESPN.com and the ESPN App,” Grabbe explained.

How Where to Watch works

Where to Watch is designed to be a simple, scrollable, time-based guide of sports events, Jason said. It is powered by a proprietary event database, managed by the ESPN Stats and Analysis team.

The event database aggregates ESPN and partner data feeds along with originally sourced information and programming details from more than 250 media sources, including television networks and streaming platforms, Jason explained. 

“We currently support coverage of tens of thousands of events across dozens of sports and leagues, and other live sporting events airing on ESPN platforms,” Jason said.

In order to watch an event, fans need only press boldly colored “watch” buttons on live game selections, which takes the viewer directly to the broadcast. That is, provided that they are a subscriber to ESPN+ or a pay-tv service. Fans can also customize the feature to highlight a specific sport or league.

Event-driven database drives discovery

Where to Watch is currently available for free to all ESPN App and ESPN.com users, which do not require a paid subscription. The feature employs an event database that was created by and is managed by the ESPN Stats and Information Group. The Stats group aggregates and analyzes data from ESPN and partner feeds. It combines that data with that of more than 250 other media sources. This includes television networks and streaming services.  ESPN has a partnership arrangement in which it links users on the ESPN App directly to partner feeds to view content, in an effort to cut down on the friction of finding and assessing sports content.

Sports fans using the Where to Watch service see two primary features: A Favorites element and the Guide. If the fan has a favorite team, sport or league they wish to watch, they can set that information into the feature and it will display upcoming games or events at the top of their screen. The viewer need only click on the event they want to be directed to. The viewer can personalize or change favorite settings at any time. Otherwise, the Guide feature will display all of the options available to watch at a given time on a given day.

Early feedback says Where to Watch is a winner

Jason notes that the Where to Watch feature was designed with the sports fan desires in mind, and that seems to have paid off so far.

“Fan feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, primarily in that this is focused on solving a real pain point for sports fans,” Grabbe said. “We see this sentiment reflected on social media, through various media outlets following launch, and ongoing interactions with sports fans. Several million fans have already used the feature, which is a really promising sign that this can become an indispensable utility going forward.”

Initial partnerships have been formed with only a few regional sports networks – NESN and Monumental Sports – to link fans directly with their programming, with plans to increase the number of these partnerships.

“We want ESPN to be a part of every sports fan’s daily routine,” Grabbe stressed. “Providing fans with this added functionality is helping to further strengthen ESPN’s position as the preeminent digital sports platform. We are always thinking about how we can put the sports fan’s needs first.” ESPN also plans to launch a new stand-alone direct-to-consumer product in 2025, and hopes to include its Where to Watch feature.

“Our near-term focus is to expand coverage across more sports events and leagues,” Jason said. “We are also working on adding additional utility within the experience, for example giving fans the ability to set reminder alerts for games they are interested in. In parallel we continue to monitor fan feedback to evaluate additional ways to improve the experience.”