Have you ever sat down on the couch after a long day just to see one of the most egregious attempts at a sport on TV? There is a great chance that the “sport” was being broadcast on ESPN8: “The Ocho.”
ESPN8 was first introduced in a scene from the movie “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” where the final round of their dodgeball tournament was broadcast on the, at the time, fictional channel. The name ESPN8: “The Ocho” comes from some of the channels ESPN has, like ESPN2, which was nicknamed “The Deuce.” The Idea of “The Ocho,” which is Spanish for eight, was a play on the fact that it was so far down the totem pole as the eighth channel that they could only get some makeshift sports to broadcast. ESPN liked the idea so much that they went on to make the channel a reality and, in the process, bring some truly wild ideas to life. These are some of my personal favorite “sports” that have been showcased on the channel:
T-Rex Races
The premise is simple: athletes dress up in inflatable dinosaur costumes and race at Emerald Downs, a horse racing track. The contestants all start in the gates as if they were horses, which is a great touch. The event started as a group activity for a pest control company in 2017, but has since grown to be a huge spectacle. In 2024, there were 200 contenders with over 6000 in-person fans. This grabbed the attention of ESPN, and the big leagues came calling. In 2025, over 300 contestants participated, and the event was nationally broadcast for the first time on “The Ocho.”
Carjitsu
In this sport, two athletes perform Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) in the confines of a car. The competitors both start sitting with their seatbelts fastened, with one in the driver’s seat and the other in the passenger seat. A normal match is made up of two three-minute rounds with the participants switching their starting seats between rounds to make sure no one gets an advantage. Most matches end in a submission, but if no one achieves that in the two rounds, then they go to a third-round tiebreaker, which happens in the backseat of the car. Now there are some rules that are traditional to BJJ that carry over to carjitsu, including the prohibition of both punching and kicking. However, carjitsu also has some unique rules, such as the fact that there is no A/C on in the car, so after some time the car can get quite toasty.
OmegaBall
OmegaBall is a three-team variation of soccer. The field is a circle with roughly a 60-yard diameter and goals evenly spaced along the perimeter of the circle. There are five people per team with unlimited hockey-like substitutions. Any out-of-bounds results in a dead ball from the nearest of three available points on the perimeter, which are in the middle of two goals. Any goals scored are a point for the team that scores, and there is no penalty for letting in a goal. If a team scores on itself, both of the other teams receive a point. Each game is made up of three 13-minute periods.
Soap Hockey
One of the more odd options in the bunch is Soap Hockey, which is hockey played on a 30-by-40-foot tarp that is smothered in water and soap, making it extremely slippery and chaotic. The rendition featured on “The Ocho” was from the Big Boy Soap Hockey League, a 3-on-3 single-elimination tournament with 10-minute games. In 2025, eight teams were in contention for the grand prize, the “Golden Duck Trophy.”
Blimp Races
To celebrate 100 years of the Goodyear Blimp, ESPN8 held a race with the three Goodyear Blimps. Wingfoot One, Wingfoot Two and Wingfoot Three raced over where they were built in Akron, Ohio. Wingfoot One narrowly edged out its competition, with two and three tying for second place.
Slippery Stairs
One of the funniest things showcased is Slippery Stairs, which is literally what it sounds like. Five contestants wear slicked bodysuits and race up a set of slippery stairs. Though it may sound fairly simple, there are quite a few tumbles that tend to work like human dominoes if other contestants happen to be in their path.
Pillowfighting
The pillowfighting that was showcased on “The Ocho” was put on by the Pillow Fight Championship (PFC). The fighters are not using just any normal pillows, though; they use specialized two-pound pillows with dense foam cores and multiple handles. The scoring is quite interesting and promotes style and showmanship. A standard headshot is worth a point, but a 360-degree spin into a headshot gets you three points. To make sure it still requires some fighting, not just spinning, knockdowns are worth five points, and if you manage to break your pillow, you would get three points.
Dodgeball
The roots of “The Ocho” are embedded in dodgeball, and it is a staple of the channel. The tournament on “The Ocho” is a tradition; with many other competitions coming and going throughout the channel’s time, dodgeball has withstood the test of time. Dodgeball is the reason for the channel’s existence, and it remains a focal point in the production.
