How to block ESPN Motion (that obnoxious video that automatically plays whenever you visit ESPN.com)*
July 24, 2007
- First, you need to be using Firefox. Please, if you’re using a PC… just use Firefox. I’m willing to entertain arguments for Safari, but to be using Microsoft Internet Explorer at this point is just… wrong. Objectively wrong. Don’t do it.
- Next, install
the Adblock extensionthe Adblock Plus extension (which you should really be using anyway). Adblock, well, blocks ads online. It comes with a huge list of automatically-blocked ads, which is neat, but the great thing about it is that you can manually add other ads to the list. Like, I don’t know… the ESPN Motion video that starts whenever you visit ESPN.com. - Next (after you restart Firefox to activate the Adblock extension), click on “Tools” in the menu bar. Then click on “Add-ons.”
- Highlight Adblock and click on the “Options” button.
- In the “New Filter” box, enter this: http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/fpp/*
- Click “Done.”
And that’s it. No more stupid videos advertising “Who’s Now” or WNBA broadcasts or Steven A. Smith’s newest show, “Spittin’ Mad With Steven A. (Brought to You by Cheetos)”. Enjoy.
* ESPN, you really need to find a way to turn this off by default. Everyone hates it. Most of us visit your site from work, you know? We can’t have this nonsense.
Posted in Economics and Advertising, Sports, Tech, Television
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July 24th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
You sir, are an American hero. Someday statues will be erected in your honor.
July 24th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
[...] Finally, someone did the necessary sleuthing to get the proper blacklist filter that will stop that godforsaken video from playing automatically when you go to ESPN.com. This man is a true hero to Blogospheristania. [...]
July 24th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
who ever came up with that video should burn in hell… but you, sir, should have a 1000 virgins waiting for you. every day. for ever.
July 24th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Ever thought of running for office? Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!
July 24th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Auto-play video is so obnoxious, it’s… perfect for the WWL. Thanks for the tip. Yee-haw! No more blabbering ESPN motion video!
July 24th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Can you tell us how to turn off myspace videos? :)
July 24th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
does this work for espnsoccernet too? or is there a different filter one must enter? because that annoying s-o-b is still playing on soccernet
July 24th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
even better is the flashgot extension. it replaces flash objects with a button you can click to view. works for espnmotion, youtube, etc.
July 24th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Welcome Deadspin readers.
daniel: This general practice works for any site with images or flash you want to block. Once you have Adblock installed, all you have to do is type “Ctrl-Shift-B” to see all blockable elements. It takes some playing around for flash, sometimes, to figure out which element to block. In the case of soccernet, blocking “http://static.espn.go.com/motion*” looks to be effective.
I avoid myspace for various reasons, but the same principle should apply there. Maybe someone else can help with the specifics there.
rtfgvb: I use an extension for that, too, but ESPN’s site uses flash for everything (like headlines and a lot of links on the front page). That is annoying, but I hate going all over the site to enable those basic navigation tools, so I (reluctantly) have the site whitelisted for flash. That’s why I had to go hunting for the particulars of the Motion window.
July 24th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Jake – check out Adblock Plus at addons.mozilla.org. Works the same way as Adblock does, but it’s better coded and is more up to date than Adblock.
July 24th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Thanks Paul—you’re correct, Adblock Plus is the newer version. That’s actually what I use. Blame lazy googling for the old link. I’ve corrected it.
July 24th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Thank you VERY much
July 24th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I thought I was the only one who found that functionality on ESPN.com to be absurd.
July 24th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Just genius. And I fully support your words on Firefox. Only fools use IE at this point.
July 24th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Freedom! Thank you
!!
July 24th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
You are an all-star for figuring this out. Nothing on the web aggravated me as much as that stupid ESPN Motion.
July 24th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
[...] My last post about ESPN Motion (linked by internet sports colossus Deadspin.com, I might self-promotionally add) addressed a problem that riddles the world wide web (and the real world, too, but let’s keep this simple): letting advertising dictate how content is presented. ESPN knows that video is difficult to ignore, and is a great way to serve up ads—for its own programming and for its sponsors. So it plasters a loud, garish, processing-heavy video window on its front page, forcing its users to a) put up with it; b) figure out and implement a fairly complicated workaround to block it; or c) go elsewhere for their sports news. I think this is pretty stupid. Here’s another example from the website I use the most: The Washington Post. [...]
July 24th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
You are a hero and true God among men! I want to have your babies! And then eat them in order to make myself as awesome as you!
July 25th, 2007 at 8:31 am
The easiest thing is to just stop going to that Peter Max nightmare of a site.
July 25th, 2007 at 9:12 am
[...] If you hate automatic streaming video, then you need to read this. (En-Dash via Deadspin) [...]
July 25th, 2007 at 10:02 am
Another method is to avoid ESPN.com all together. It has been working wonders for me.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Do they make a Mac version of Adblock Plus?
July 26th, 2007 at 3:44 am
Dang I needed this – can’t stand those videos. Thanks for the tip.
July 26th, 2007 at 9:02 am
[...] How to block ESPN Motion from automatically going off EVERY FREAKING TIME YOU HIT THE HOMEPAGE [En-Dash] [...]
September 18th, 2007 at 9:57 am
To block the godawful video on espn soccernet, type in static.espn.go.com
Heavenly silence!
September 18th, 2007 at 9:57 am
To block the godawful video on espn soccernet, type in static.espn.go.com using the adblock plus procedure as described in the threads above.
Heavenly silence!
April 19th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Another way that appears to work to block the annoying video on espn.com is to sign up for a user name and password, then click on “customize” under the player and uncheck “automatically play video.” I have no idea if this will disable it at soccernet too, but it appears to work at espn.com so long as you tell it to remember your name and password.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:03 am
[...] This is a year old, but in case you missed it last summer, here are the instructions for blocking the obnoxious ESPN video that switches on every time you visi…. (Hello [...]