The channel is primarily dedicated to coverage of college athletics, and is also used as an additional outlet for general ESPN programming.

ESPN and XOS Technologies entered into a partnership for college athletics websites to compete directly with CSTV's growing internet presence.

In addition to its collegiate sports coverage, ESPNU has simulcast ESPN Radio's midday program over its airwaves since 2008, with the exception of a brief period between 2011 and 2012.

Following Cowherd's departure and several weeks of guest hosts taking over the timeslot, The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz became the permanent replacement for The Herd.

On April 26, 2017, as part of a larger series of company-wide cuts, it was announced that ESPNU's studio operations would be re-located from Charlotte to ESPN's main headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.

[2] On August 8, 2017, ESPNU aired a marathon of lesser-known and unconventional non-college sports as "ESPN 8: The Ocho"—an homage to a fictitious eighth ESPN channel portrayed in the film DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, which aired events that were "almost a sport".

[5] On August 31, 2017, as part of an extension of ESPN's agreements with the service, Sirius XM's channel College Sports Nation was relaunched as ESPNU Radio.

We will not renegotiate settled contracts and will vigorously defend this legal action, the apparent sole purpose of which is to get a better deal.