Fox Soccer Channel Outbids ESPN For Champions League Rights
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ESPN Had Held Rights To UEFA
Champions League Since September '94 |
Fox Soccer Channel (FSC) has outbid ESPN to win the U.S. rights to the UEFA Champions League, giving the soccer network one of the most coveted international assets in the sport. Financial terms of the deal were not available, but a formal announcement is expected this week. ESPN has held the rights to the Champions League since September '94. The move is a significant win for FSC, which is in 34 million homes and is looking to increase its distribution. As part of the deal, Fox is expected to carry UEFA games on several of its cable channels. It is not known exactly which channels will carry matches, but Fox could put them on FX (which is in 95 million homes) or its network of RSNs. Fox Soccer's winning bid should secure the channel's spot on U.S. cable systems, and it shows that Fox Soccer will be a major bidder when the U.S. rights to the EPL come up. This year, most speculation centered on ESPN making a run at the EPL rights and hardly any considered ESPN would lose the UEFA Champions League rights (Tripp Mickle, SportsBusiness Journal). UEFA earlier this month announced that Fox will replace ESPN as the Champions League pay broadcaster in Central and South America next season, under a new three-year deal (AP, 3/30).
BLOW TO ESPN'S PLANS: SOCCER BY IVES' Ives Galarcep wrote FSC, which also boasts the U.S. rights to the EPL and Italian Serie A, acquiring Champions League rights is a "big blow to ESPN's plans to increase the visibility of soccer in its broadcasts." However, "far more viewers have ESPN than have Fox Soccer Channel, making it that much tougher for American soccer fans to watch Champions League action" (SOCCERBYIVES.net, 3/30). FANHOUSE.com's Michael Cardillo noted the move "certainly cuts down on the number of eyeballs on the games, meaning Fox must have blown UEFA's doors off with its bid" (FANHOUSE.com, 3/30).
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