In a cost-cutting move, the schedule has been reduced to ESPN original programming, like such pseudo-sports as poker, bowling, and bass fishing, rather than spend money on re-airing classic NBA, NHL, MLB, and NCAA games.
The first live event to be shown on ESPN Classic was the
Implosion of the
Seattle Kingdome in
March 2000 . More live sporting events have started appearing on the network as of 2005, including early-round grand slam tennis action and college football games due to either
ESPN or
ESPN2 scheduling conflicts. During ESPN's 25th anniversary, the network aired live college basketball games with old-time announcers and retro-graphics. However since late 2005-early 2006, ESPN Classic has used the corporate ESPN look when broadcasting live events.
