Walt Disney purchased London-based NASN in 2006 from Irish pay TV broadcaster Setanta and private equity company Benchmark Capital Europe for an estimated $120m (£60.7m).
ESPN is now introducing a recruitment freeze and will no longer recruit a planned 200 positions to add to its 5,500 global workforce.
To promote the rebranding, which takes place on Saturday (30 January), the channel will offer BSkyB viewers free access over the weekend. ESPN America is also available on Virgin Media in the UK.
The channel offers National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, college football, basketball and debate shows Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn.
.jpg)
.jpg)