ESPN GamePlan

Television channel

ESPN Gameplan

Country| United States
Programming
Language(s)| English
Ownership
Owner| ESPN Inc.
History
Launched| September 5, 1992 (1992-09-05)
(as The Option Play)
Closed| August 28, 2015 (2015-08-28)
Replaced by| ESPN College Extra

ESPN GamePlan was an out-of-market sports package offering college football games to viewers throughout the United States. GamePlan began on Labor Day weekend, and continued through the first Saturday in December. It included all regional telecasts on ABC, as well as games from various syndicators like ESPN Plus, Raycom Sports and SportsWest, and some local stations like Allentown, Pennsylvania's WFMZ-TV which broadcast locally-produced college football games. Viewers could watch games from their cable or satellite provider or on the ESPN3 broadband Internet service.

Eventually, with carriage of ESPN3 moving from computers only to smartphones, tablets and digital media players allowing access without any additional fees, GamePlan became a superfluous package, with only the few providers who refused to offer ESPN3 or where ESPN3 access was limited (for instance, rural areas) really able to compel viewers to use the service.

On August 28, 2015, the package was discontinued, along with ESPN Full Court, to make way for ESPN College Extra,[1] which offered a select bundle of games that would previously have been broadcast by GamePlan and Full Court.[2][3]

## History

[edit]

In 1992, Showtime Event Television supplemented ABC's airing of regional college football telecasts by creating "Option Play."[4] This allowed viewers to watch games not airing on their local ABC station via pay-per-view. The original cost for a single game was $8.95 (with each additional game costing $1 extra),[5] with the full "season-ticket" package priced between $49.95 and $69.95.[6] The following year, ESPN took over for Showtime and offered the purchase of up to three individual Saturday afternoon blocks for $8.95, as opposed to only a single game. In 1993, the package was renamed "Season Ticket", followed in 1994 by "ABC College Football on ESPN Pay-Per-View." In 1996, the name was again changed to "ESPN GamePlan", as the formation of ESPN Regional Television allowed for additional out-of-market games from conferences such as the Big Ten and MAC to be broadcast. ESPN would also pick up telecasts from other conferences such as the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Conference-USA, Mountain West, Pac-10, SEC and WAC for inclusion in GamePlan.

## Schedule

[edit]

Up to 15 games were provided each week. Some games were joined in progress due to time and channel constraints. In 2007, ESPN GamePlan picked up additional telecasts of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference shown on Comcast Sports Southeast/Charter Sports Southeast. This change replaced Big Ten Conference games that left ESPN Plus for the new Big Ten Network.

## Pricing

[edit]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

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## See also

[edit]

* NFL Sunday Ticket
* MLB Extra Innings
* NBA League Pass
* NHL Center Ice
* ESPN Full Court
* MLS Direct Kick

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "ESPN College Extra", http://www.espn.com/espncollegeextra/
2. ^ "ESPN GamePlan is no more, ESPN College Extra to take its place." http://awfulannouncing.com/2015/espn-gameplan-is-no-more-espn-college-extra-to-take-its-place.html
3. ^ "The New ESPN College Extra, Now on DIRECTV" http://www.itsallaboutsatellites.com/the-new-espn-college-extra-now-on-directv/
4. ^ "PPV: the old college try." "PPV: The old college try. (Programming college football on pay-per-view television; ABC Sports, Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) - Broadcasting & Cable | HighBeam Research". Archived from the original on 2015-03-28. Retrieved 2014-10-30.
5. ^ "College football to take pay-per-view turn", [1]
6. ^ Dempsey, John (1993-04-01). "ABC, ESPN team to tackle college football on PPV". Variety. Retrieved 2023-11-22.

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Syndication|

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1 Indicates the channel is still in existence, but currently operates as a basic cable channel.
2 Star Channel was part of Warner Communications' QUBE interactive cable service, and was the precursor to present-day The Movie Channel.

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See also
U.S. movie channels
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College football on television

Broadcast networks|

* ABC
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| Announcers by network|

* ABC
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Minor networks|

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* ESPN Events
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* Southland Conference
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| Announcers by network|

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College
sports networks|

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Major events|

* Bowl games (BCS)
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Miscellaneous
programs|

* College Football Final
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| College Football Primetime|

* Thursday
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Pregame shows|

* College Football Countdown
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Weekday studio shows|

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Contract information|

* College Football Association
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* Timeline of American Football on UK television

Out-of-market sports packages|

* ESPN GamePlan
* Option Play

* v
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ESPN College Football

Related articles|

* College Football on ABC
* ESPN Regional Television
* ESPN GamePlan
* ESPN Events
* College football on television

Programs|

* College GameDay
* locations
* College Football Live
* College Football Final
* College Football Scoreboard
* BCS Countdown
* ESPNU Coaches Spotlight
* ESPNU Recruiting Insider
* ESPN Radio College GameDay
* Heisman Trophy Presentation

Game coverage|

* ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime
* ESPN College Football Saturday Primetime
* ESPN2 College Football Saturday Primetime
* ESPNU College Football
* SEC Network Football

Current commentators|

* Lee Corso
* Rece Davis
* Dusty Dvoracek
* Dave Flemming
* Chris Fowler
* Rod Gilmore
* Kirk Herbstreit
* Desmond Howard
* Mark Jones
* Clay Matvick
* Sean McDonough
* Greg McElroy
* Beth Mowins
* Dan Orlovsky
* Jesse Palmer
* Dave Pasch
* Holly Rowe
* Anish Shroff
* Andre Ware
* Bob Wischusen
* Joe Tessitore

Past commentators|

* Mike Adamle
* Trev Alberts
* Adam Amin
* Erin Andrews
* Dave Barnett
* Anthony Becht
* Ray Bentley
* Todd Blackledge
* Bob Carpenter
* Todd Christensen
* Beano Cook
* Bill Curry
* Stacey Dales
* Gary Danielson
* Bob Davie
* Ron Franklin
* Terry Gannon
* Mike Golic
* Mike Gottfried
* Todd Harris
* Lou Holtz
* Craig James
* Adrian Karsten
* Paul Maguire
* Pat McAfee
* Brad Nessler
* Mike Patrick
* Jerry Punch
* Jim Simpson
* Robert Smith
* Chris Spielman
* Charley Steiner
* Rob Stone
* Mike Tirico
* Gino Torretta
* Pam Ward
* Matt Winer
* David Norrie
* Louis Riddick
* Mark May
* Steve Levy
* Brock Huard
* Brian Griese
* Matt Hasselbeck
* Jason Benetti
* Jim Mora
* Gene Chizik
* Kelly Stouffer

Lore televised by ESPN|

* First live telecast
* "Earthquake Game"
* "Seven OT Game"
* Biggest comeback in NCAA history
* Highest-scoring college football game

Conferences|

* ACC
* AAC
* Big Ten
* Big 12
* Conference USA
* MAC
* Pac-12
* SEC
* SBC

Conference Championships|

* Conference USA Championship Game
* MAC Championship Game

Bowls broadcast by ESPN|

* College Football Playoff
* Cotton Bowl
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* Peach Bowl
* Rose Bowl
* Sugar Bowl
* CFP National Championship
* 68 Ventures Bowl
* Alamo Bowl
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* First Responder Bowl
* Frisco Bowl
* GameAbove Sports Bowl
* Gasparilla Bowl
* Gator Bowl
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* Pinstripe Bowl
* Pop-Tarts Bowl
* Rate Bowl
* ReliaQuest Bowl
* Salute to Veterans Bowl
* Texas Bowl
* International Bowl (defunct)
* Poinsettia Bowl (defunct)
* San Francisco Bowl (defunct)

Other events broadcast by ESPN|

* FCS Kickoff

## External links

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