ESPN Mobile Closure to Cost $30 Million

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Disney’s decision to pull the plug on its much-hyped Mobile ESPN cellular will cost the company $30 million, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Staggs said Monday.

The sports network decided to call it quits after failing to attract customers with its branded phones. Mobile ESPN paid wholesale for access to the Sprint Nextel Corp. network, selling the service on to its clients.

ESPN now plans to provide sports information that had been available on the network to other larger cellular operators. Disney Mobile, a separate service started earlier this year by the Burbank-based entertainment company and aimed at families, is unaffected by the decision.

Shares of Disney were down 32 cents in early trading Monday to $30.58.

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