BT Sport to treat US sports fans to 5,000 hours of ESPN content
Team spirit is alive at BT Sport and ESPN. The two sport TV channels have signed a new seven-year agreement which will deepen their existing relationship.
US based ESPN will provide BT Sport with up to 5,000 hours of programming per year for UK fans of global sports to enjoy, including coverage of the Verizon IndyCar Series, NCAA College Football and Basketball, X Games and the Australian Football League.
BT Sport has gone from strength to strength since it arrived on UK screens in 2013. It spent £1bn building its original portfolio of content, part of which went on buying ESPN’s UK and Ireland business which included rights to the FA Cup and German Bundesliga.
Since then BT Sport has become the first-choice channel for pubs across Britain and won exclusive rights to broadcast live Champions League games with a £897m bid that beat off competition from Sky Sports and ITV.
The UK channel will now continue to collaborate with ESPN and could soon host its film documentary series "30 for 30" and world football show ESPN FC.
John Petter, chief executive at BT Consumer, commented:
Continuing with ESPN, one of the world’s leading sports brands, as part of the BT Sport portfolio is a win for our viewers, our partners and sports fans in the UK and Ireland.Our relationship with ESPN since BT Sport began operation of the ESPN channel in the UK and Ireland has been a big success, with the two companies collaborating on a number of initiatives.