ESPN committed to Australia despite Champions League blow

Sports broadcaster ESPN has said it remains committed to the Australian market despite losing the rights to the Uefa Champions League European club football competition.

BeIN Media Group secured a three-season deal for the Champions League in Oceania, from 2015-16 to 2017-18, earlier this month.

Australian public-service broadcaster SBS last week extended its long-running association with the Champions League by agreeing a sublicensing deal with beIN for the same period.

Without the Champions League, ESPN’s offering in Australia is mostly comprised of US sports – namely the National Basketball Association, National Football League and Major League Baseball.

“ESPN’s content offering in Australia continues to deliver Aussie sports fans the best of international sport,” ESPN’s regional general manager Haydn Arndt told the Mumbrella website.

“We have a sustained commitment and partnership with the NBA, NFL and MLB in the market and we continue to invest in additional rights for these sports, delivering Aussie sports fans more of the sports they want to see.

“We will continue to look at additional content that will add to the growth in audience and the engagement that we have seen in recent years.”