BT Vision to show new ESPN sports channel

BT Vision has agreed a deal with ESPN to air the American broadcaster’s new channel.

The new channel will air 46 live Barclays Premier League matches in the 2009/10 season and 23 matches a season from 2010-2013 after it won the rights following the collapse of Setanta (see ESPN wins rights to 46 Premier League matches).

ESPN is also airing 30 Scottish Premier League matches in the coming season. In addition, BT Vision will give customers at least 28 exclusive on-demand Celtic or Rangers matches, which will be available at 10.00pm on the day of the match.

Marc Watson, chief executive of television and online services, BT Retail, said: “We want BT Vision to offer the best value and all-round entertainment – which naturally includes the very best of sport.

“So the new deal with ESPN is great news for customers. But the best news is that ESPN’s top-quality sports coverage is provided by BT Vision at no additional cost to customers on our Bronze, Silver or Gold packages.”

Virgin Media recently completed a deal with ESPN giving its Virgin Media XL subscribers free access to the channel from yesterday.

It is also making the channels available to all of its 3.5 million digital TV customers for free during August (see Virgin Media XL subscribers to get free ESPN sports channel).