• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, February 10, 2012

What does it say about the newspaper business when a loaded advertiser drops one of the most naturally placed ads in all of media? Nothing good.

It’s been disorienting reading the USA Today sports section these last few weeks without ESPN’s ad on the front page. Since January 1, 2000, there had been one in the upper right of every issue, just as Chanel takes its daily presence on page two of the New York Times.

Then, at the end of 2011, it was gone after 12 years. So, Friday morning, a photo of Kobe Bryant next to a promotion for an NBA doubleheader tonight wasn't there.

ESPN’s decision to pull out is curious and surely dispiriting for USA Today, where circulation has been declining, but still averages about 1.8 million. The ad was relatively small – about 2 x 3 inches – but with so many newspaper ads unnoticeable, this one was unavoidable.

Sports section readers might check out the lead story, then reflexively glance at the upper right corner, where ESPN would promote that night's programming or regular shows across its family of networks.

The ad placement – which USA Today refers to as a “window” or “ear” – still offered a ripe setting to reach loads of potential viewers and all those advertisers grabbing free copies at hotels. Certainly, with its billions of dollars in revenue, money by itself wouldn’t seem to have been the dominant factor in ESPN's opting to end the relationship. But, it may have felt its target young male audience was eschewing the printed page so much that reallocating dollars to digital or other platforms was the smarter play.

(Pricing is difficult to determine, but based on USA Today’s rate card, the cheapest price for a color ad running every day would appear to cost about $5.3 million.)

ESPN also has plenty of valuable marketing opportunities across its own TV, digital and radio outlets. The company hired a new chief of marketing, Coca-Cola veteran Carol Kruse, towards the end of 2010. While she may have ushered in a changing philosophy, the USA Today placement continued for the first full year of her tenure.

"We had a great run with USA Today,” ESPN said in a statement. “We continue to have a great relationship and will look for opportunities to work together in the future."

USA Today said it was a “mutual business decision” as “we’re reconsidering our use of all real estate across platforms” and ESPN remains an advertiser.

On USA Today’s last publication day of 1999, Northwest Airlines ended a long run on the Sports section front. ESPN picked up the window placement on Jan. 3, 2000.

The spot now remains empty. NBC Sports or another ESPN competitor hasn't taken on the daily role, nor has anyone else.

While ESPN dropped out, Sprint continues to occupy the upper right on the front of the Money section, which it has for years. Sprint looks to have inherited the presence from Nextel as the two merged in 2005.

MasterCard had a long run on the Life section's front windown, but the space remains mostly unused now, though Z Associates, which advises companies on improving sales and marketing, has made periodic appearances.

When ESPN took the spot as America was still contemplating hanging chads, ESPN was in the early stages of subsuming ABC Sports. The first two ads focused on ABC's “Monday Night Football” and college football title game. Then, the ESPN brand made its debut on day three, plugging that night’s college basketball doubleheader on ESPN and NHL games on ESPN2.

USA Today continues to run occasional strip ads across the bottom of the sport front. But, those hardly carry the pop of the window ESPN has shut after so many years.