Walt Disney-owned ESPN has added Bundesliga and Major League Soccer matches to its UK rights portfolio as it prepares to launch there this summer.
The rights for 46 English Premier League matches and 30 Scottish Premier League matches are the key content for ESPN as it launches, both acquired after previous rights-holder Setanta went bankrupt. It previously only had rights for American sports in the UK, but has signed several football deals to appeal to the local market.
ESPN will show up to five live Bundesliga matches per week under a new deal agreed with DFL Sports Enterprises, the league’s commercial rights-holder, covering the 2009-10 to 2011-12 seasons. The MLS deal kicks off with coverage of David Beckham’s Los Angeles Galaxy versus New England on August 8, and includes at least five further matches from the playoffs, plus the final.
The broadcaster also has deals with the Portuguese Liga, the Dutch Eredivisie and the Russian Premier League.
