ESPN has successfully renewed its media rights deal to the English FA Cup in the USA for four more seasons.
The new deal, which runs through until the end of the 2027/28 season, ensures that the world’s oldest national soccer competition will continue to be streamed across ESPN+.
Seven hundred and twenty-nine clubs competed in the 2023/24 FA Cup across England and Wales. The FA Cup features 12 rounds, with the top divisions participating later in the competition. This weekend’s final of the FA Cup features Manchester City facing Manchester United. It’ll be the 143rd final of the competition. The first one began in the 1871/72 season.
In addition to the FA Cup, ESPN+ has the US rights to the DFB-Pokal, Copa del Rey, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Eredivisie, NWSL, USL, and many other soccer leagues and competitions.
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Improvements made to FA Cup coverage
Soccer fans watching the English FA Cup on ESPN+ may have noticed several improvements during the last two years. Those include the addition of an FA Cup whip-around show. Plus there have been more games shown from the earlier rounds than previously.
For example, all 32 FA Cup 3rd Round games in 2024 were streamed live on ESPN+. If you live in the United Kingdom, only nine games were shown on domestic television.
In the United States of America, ESPN has held the exclusive rights to the FA Cup since 2018. For many of those years, including this weekend’s FA Cup final, the coverage has often included commentaries by Jon Champion, who currently also works for NBC Sports as their Premier League announcer.
Big changes in store for the FA Cup in the USA beginning 2024/25
Earlier this year, the FA and Premier League agreed on changes to the FA Cup from the 2024/25 season. The changes include:
• All rounds played on weekends
• No Premier League games scheduled on the weekends of 4th, 5th, quarterfinals and…
Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/tv/fa-cup-in-usa-rights-renewed-espn/
Author : Christopher Harris
Publish date : 2024-05-21 15:00:29
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