The Street League Skateboarding (SLS) series has agreed rights deals with US sports broadcaster ESPN, the ABC network and new digital subscription service ETN.
ESPN will exclusively broadcast coverage of the series’ finals on the 2017 SLS Nike SB World Tour through its ESPN2 channel. Coverage will include a dedicated show for the women’s division of the Super Crown World Championship.
ABC will show a programme featuring highlights from the Tour during its coverage of the X Games action sports series. The programme will be broadcast the weekend after each event.
In addition, ETN will stream live coverage of various SLS events via its digital OTT network.
ETN coverage will begin with the SLS Pro Open, which takes place in Barcelona on May 20-21. Its coverage will be provided free across the world.
Brian Atlas, SLS president and co-founder, said: “We’re very proud to partner with ESPN, ABC and ETN to bring the excitement of SLS broadcasts to our passionate audience; elite professional skateboarding has simply never had distribution on this level before.”
Skateboarding will make its debut as an Olympic Games sport at the 2020 summer Games in Tokyo, Japan.