ESPN BottomLine

ESPN Bottom Line is the name for a lower-third sports information ticker graphic used on the ESPN family of networks. It is not present either when commercials appear via local ad insertion during commercial breaks and/or during some sporting events, a most prominent example being its coverage of the NBA games (although it reappears for short "BottomLine Updates" and during its pre-game (NBA Countdown) and halftime reports).

SportsCenter debuted a new graphics package on April 6, 2009, with the "rundown" graphic (shown during the daytime editions) moved to the left side of the screen. A new BottomLine was also released that day on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN CLASSIC and ESPNU but it was quickly removed and reverted to the old BottomLine (which had been used since April 2003) because of major technical difficulties. but was functional on the 2009 NFL Draft and the 2009 NBA Draft. The issues were fixed and the new BottomLine eventually returned on July 8 of the same year. Yet another redesigned BottomLine was launched at 11 PM ET on June 22, 2014, to coincide with a dramatic redesign of the SportsCenter studio.

In 1995, ESPN2 debuted a sports news ticker, dubbed by Production Assistant Onnie Bose as the "BottomLine." It is a persistent ticker which stayed at the bottom of the screen at all times during most programming, unlike ESPN, who only showed their own at the :28 and :58 of each hour (accompanied by an audio cue, which has since been adapted as the alert tone for ESPN's mobile apps) and during select programming. ESPN2's sports telecasts were also among the first to regularly use a scoring bug. In later years, ESPN2 would also participate in “Full Circle” telecasts, productions of a single game aired across multiple ESPN services to provide additional features and angles.

ESPNEWS's "bottom line" — a small rectangular area at the bottom one-fifth of the screen flashing scores—is more in-depth than the one airing on ESPN's other networks. It contains not only scores but also statistics and brief news alerts about the day's happenings in sports. It also remains on screen during most commercial breaks. This particular BottomLine was re-designed as the network was re-launched on March 30, 2008. The change from a big BottomLine to the ESPN-shaped BottomLine, the decrease of ESPNEWS programming, and SportsCenter being shown on ESPNEWS has had some controversy among longtime ESPNEWS viewers. The network was changed over to a full-screen presentation on June 2010 with the network receiving the BottomLine used on all other ESPN networks in anticipation of the network's primetime programming being rebranded under the SportsCenter branding.

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