While ESPN doesn’t have the Premier League, it will retain the rights to England’s second division and one of its cup competitions for the foreseeable future.
On Tuesday, the company announced a new multi-year deal with the English Football League, which also includes the rights to the Carabao Cup. A minimum 182 EFL matches will be included in each season of the deal, along with at least 30 Carabao Cup matches.
Here’s the breakdown of what’s included, per the release.
-147 Sky Bet Championship regular season matches
-20 Sky Bet League One and League Two regular season matches
-All 12 Sky Bet Play-Off Semi-Final (matches for promotion across the three tiers of competition Championship, League One, and League Two)
-All three Sky BetPlay-Off Final matches for the Championship, League One and League Two.
As part of the agreement, ESPN+ will be the exclusive U.S. media home for the Carabao Cup featuring 30 matches across the competition: 25 matches in Rounds One to Five, four home-and-away Semi-Finals and the Wembley Final. ESPN+ will also livestream three EFL Trophy (Papa Johns Trophy) matches – two Semi-Finals and Final – in the knockout competition for the 48 EFL League One and League Two clubs and, 16 Premier League U21 sides. In addition, ESPN+ will be the exclusive home for EFL highlights programs across the Championship, League One, League Two and the Carabao Cup competitions.
While the EFL and Carabao Cup aren’t the sexiest properties, they give ESPN+ some more inventory, much like the streamer’s deal announced yesterday for Spain’s Copa del Rey.
[ESPN]
About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.