ESPN acquires rights to Europa League football

ESPN has acquired the rights to show the new Uefa Europa League – which replaces the Uefa Cup – previously held by Setanta.

The three year deal, beginning this season, will see matches air on the channel from 17 September when the tournament starts. Matches will be shown on Wednesday and Thursday evenings throughout the season.

The Disney owned channel already has the rights to show 46 live Enlgish Premier League football matches this season, in a deal that came about following the collapse of Setanta earlier this year

Jeroen Oerlemans, the ESPN vice president of TV channels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: “This deal shows that we continue to build a fantastic offering of local and international sport for fans around the UK.”

A Uefa spokesman added: “We are delighted to have signed this deal with ESPN in respect of the Uefa Europa League rights in the United Kingdom. ESPN’s new sports channel complements the launch of this exciting competition and will provide UK football fans with additional top quality live football.”

ESPN will share rights to the competition with terrestrial broadcaster Five.