ESPN in the UK

Season opens with Chelsea v West Bromwich Albion, Newcastle v Aston Villa, Manchester United v West Ham

Multi-platform Coverage Will Also Include Mobile Highlights of all 380 Matches

ESPN today announced its initial Barclays Premier League fixtures, starting with defending champions Chelsea as they take on newly promoted West Bromwich Albion. The fixture will see former Chelsea player, Roberto Di Matteo make his Barclays Premier League managerial debut as his West Brom team travel to Stamford Bridge in the hope of causing an opening day upset.

In August, ESPN’s handpicked selection of exclusively live matches include Championship winners Newcastle United as they host Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa, and renewing old rivalries, Avram Grant takes his new side, West Ham United, to Old Trafford as they visit Manchester United.

Following on from last year’s opening season of live Barclays Premier league matches, ESPN’s coverage will be presented by Ray Stubbs with Kevin Keegan alongside him as lead analyst. In the commentary box, Jon Champion will be joined by Chris Waddle and Joe Royle, who will alternate between co-commentary duties, and on the touchline ESPN’s match day reporter Rebecca Lowe will continue to get the exclusive stories from managers and players.

This season, ESPN will bring fans enhanced television coverage of its Barclays Premier League fixtures, adding seven cameras — increasing the number of cameras at games from an average of 16 cameras to 23.

ESPN’s multiplatform coverage of the Barclays Premier League also includes exclusive mobile highlight rights to all 380 Barclays Premier League matches per season over the next 3 seasons.  The rights will allow ESPN to deliver in-match, post-match and customized highlights, including goals, to football fans in the UK. ESPN will announce specific plans and products that utilize these rights and connect fans to the Barclays Premier League in the weeks ahead.  ESPN also provides complete news and analysis coverage of UK and international football on ESPN.co.uk and ESPNsoccernet.com.

ESPN’s early season Barclays Premier League schedule will feature teams from last year’s top seven and 12 of the 20 Barclays Premier League teams. From September onwards, the chase for the top four places intensifies as Arsenal and Manchester United face tricky trips away to Sunderland and Bolton Wanderers respectively, and Manchester City continue their quest for Champions League football as they face Newcastle United.

Announcing the selection of live matches, Jeroen Oerlemans, Vice President TV Channels, ESPN, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said:  “After an exciting first season broadcasting live coverage of the Barclays Premier League, we are looking forward to the year ahead in what will no doubt be another season of great football and drama. Our opening game will see ESPN take its cameras to the home of current champions Chelsea as they play host to West Bromwich Albion, in what we hope will be the first of many fantastic matches involving all 20 Barclays Premier League clubs.”

Early-season ESPN telecasts of Barclays Premier League matches include:

August
Saturday 14th Chelsea v West Bromwich Albion 5:30pm
Sunday 22nd Newcastle United v Aston Villa 1:30pm
Saturday 28th Manchester United v West Ham United 5:30pm

September
Saturday 18th Sunderland v Arsenal 5:30pm
Saturday 25th Bolton Wanderers v Manchester United 5:30pm

October
Sunday 3rd Manchester City v Newcastle United 1:30pm
Saturday 16th Aston Villa v Chelsea 5:30pm
Saturday 30th Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur 5:30pm

November
Saturday 13th Stoke City v Liverpool 5:30pm
Saturday 20th Liverpool v West Ham United 5:30pm
Live HD television coverage of the Barclays Premier League on ESPN is complemented by the company’s exclusive coverage of 25 FA Cup matches, 43 Premiership Rugby matches, 30 Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League matches, 27 UEFA Europa League matches, multiple weekly German Bundesliga matches, the NFL’s Monday Night Football, UFC, AFL, French Top 14 rugby, DTM, and much more. 

ESPN’s UK and European television business also includes ESPN America (and ESPN America HD) – the only European channel dedicated to North American sport, and ESPN Classic – dedicated to celebrating the history, heritage and passion of sport.   Online, ESPN’s portfolio of industry-leading sites includes top news and information sites ESPN.co.uk, ESPNCricinfo.com, ESPNSoccernet.com, ESPNScrum.com, ESPNF1.com as well as broadband service ESPN Player.