Today, ESPN and eBay announced that consumers will soon be able to celebrate their favorite athletes and teams by making eBay’s sports equipment, fashion apparel, memorabilia, and collectibles more discoverable on ESPN.com web and mobile web. As the exclusive provider in those categories, eBay helps fans connect to the sports merchandise they love, whether it’s a signed football, an aspiring player’s first full-sized basketball, a mint condition rookie card, or a licensed team hoodie. With this collaboration, ESPN fans will be able to easily access and shop eBay’s millions of items.
“There are few things people are more passionate about than sports, and the apparel, memorabilia and collectibles associated with our favorite athletes and teams have become an important part of sports fandom,” said Suzy Deering, Chief Marketing Officer of eBay Americas. “ESPN and eBay are connecting the world’s largest sports community with the greatest collection of related inventory to deliver shopping experiences when fans are most engaged. Whether it’s immediately following the big game, or when a sports legend is in the headlines, we’ll help fans immediately shop the moment.”
“ESPN and eBay have had a long-standing relationship that has continually brought together the best of both brands,” said Ed Erhardt, President, ESPN Global Sales & Marketing. “By leveraging data-driven ad solutions, we are now able to better serve and celebrate our fans with a shopping experience that is relevant and personal to them.”
eBay will deliver this experience via contextually integrated shopping modules – including licensed fan apparel of the teams they care most about – to fans on ESPN.com web and mobile web, allowing fans to easily find officially licensed products from their favorite sports while following their favorite athlete or team.