Final buzzer sounds on ESPN5’s sports website

MANILA, Philippines – ESPN5’s sports website, one of the major sports news portals in the Philippines, ended operations early Wednesday. 

This was confirmed by some of the website’s staff members in a series of posts on Twitter.

As early as March 2020, ESPN International did not renew its content partnership agreement with TV5/Cignal, prompting the latter to rebrand its sports channel to One Sports and drop ESPN5-branded programming on its lineup.

The partnership, however, continued online as tv5.espn.com remained operational with local sports news until the staff members confirmed they are severing ties with the website late Tuesday.

While the website tv5.espn.com remains live online as of posting time, it is now devoid of local content.

A source who requested anonymity told Philstar.com that plans are underway to launch a standalone One Sports website but haven’t been executed yet.

TV5’s partnership with ESPN became official on October 12, 2017, with the former acquiring the domestic rights to some of the latter’s US and international shows. These include boxing matches on ESPN Classic, races on the IndyCar Series, and some NFL games — including highly anticipated Super Bowl matches. 

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