ESPN won the rights to 46 English Premier League matches in the 2009/10 season when Setanta put its UK operations into administration in June. It also has 23 matches from 2010 to 2013. In addition it has the rights to 30 Scottish Premier League games previously owned by Setanta, plus exclusively live coverage from the German Bundesliga, Portuguese Liga, Dutch Eredvisie, Russian League and the remainder of the US MLS season.
ESPN recently added BT Vision and Top Up TV to its roster of platforms that will carry the new channel, having originally done deals with Sky and Virgin Media. This left just Tiscali TV with which to do a deal.
This has now changed with the news that Tiscali TV has agreed a carriage deal for ESPN’s standard definition channel. All Tiscali TV subscribers will be able to receive ESPN and ESPN America for 1p until the end of September, with the price increasing to £9.99 per month thereafter. The deal was agreed on Friday, 24 hours before the start of the new FAPL season.
ESPN will also broadcast UK exclusive UFC coverage, Top 14 – French Rugby, Australian Rules Football and FIBA – European Basketball Championship. ESPN America will carry a mix of premium US sports, including Major League Baseball and NHL ice hockey.
Tiscali UK director of programming and content Hugh Williams said: “We’re delighted to have ESPN and ESPN America on board and the channels are an excellent boost to our vast range of movies and popular TV series already available to customers.”
ESPN EMEA managing director Lynne Frank added: “We are delighted to team with Tiscali to offer their customers ESPN’s exciting range of Barclays Premier League football, Clydesdale Bank Premier League and the best in international sports on ESPN.
“We’re also pleased that ESPN America, which brings sports fans great live sporting action from North America, will be available to Tiscali customers for the first time.”
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