Fox Sports has won an extension to its rights to broadcast UEFA Champions League and Premier League soccer matches for three years through 2018.
The deal means that Fox platforms will be the exclusive source for U.S. and Caribbean fans of two of Europe’s most competitive soccer leagues.
“The combination of UEFA Champions and Europa leagues provides viewers with the complete club competition experience at the highest level. The fact that all the leading European teams and players continue to be seen on one destination speaks to FOX Sports’ commitment to showcase the world’s best,” said David Nathanson, GM and COO of Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, in a statement on Monday. “No other sports television franchise has an elite international soccer schedule that even comes close.”
The deal will bring 146 UEFA Champions League matches per year to Fox’s linear and digital platforms on a live and delayed basis, including Fox Sports 1 & 2, Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Sports Regional Networks, and the Fox Sports Go and FoxSoccer2Go broadband platforms. Its websites, FoxSports.com and FoxSoccer.com, will run highlight clips.
The Champions League Final—think of it as the European Super Bowl—will continue to be shown live on Fox’s flagship broadcast network, its U.S. home since 2010. Fox says that 2.6 million viewers tuned into the 2011 final between Barcelona and Manchester United.
Spanish language audiences—who make up a significant portion of soccer fans in North America—will get 122 Champions League matches live and delayed via Fox Deportes.
The UEFA Champions League is an annual continent-wide competition featuring the top football clubs from across Europe. Teams that don’t qualify for the Champions League can play in the Europa League, also organized by UEFA.
Fox has committed to broadcasting 205 of the Europa League games, with two live matches per week on Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, and Fox Soccer Plus. FS2 will air encores of that week’s FS1 games, while Fox Soccer Plus will also encore the FS1 and FS2 matches.
Fox will air all Europa League matches live on its Fox Sports Go mobile app.
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