ESPN weighs up bid for UK Premier League rights

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 10-Dec-07, 09:00

LONDON - ESPN, the US cable sports network, is considering bidding for the UK rights to the Premier League in a move that could pit the Walt Disney-owned network against BSkyB.

The US sports broadcaster said it was "absolutely interested" in acquiring the rights to English football's top league when they are auctioned in 2009, as part of an aggressive global expansion plan.

George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN, which already has the rights to broadcast the Premier League in Asia, described the league as a "fabulous property".

He said: "When you talk to US media folk about cricket, rugby and soccer, sometimes you get a blank stare. But we're serving sports fans globally and there is a lot more out there than US sports."

The rights are currently held by BSkyB, which last year agreed a three-year deal worth £1.3bn for the largest package of live games available.

ESPN's international expansion is partly driven by the increasing value of sport to advertisers.

The emergence of digital video recorders, which allow viewers to skip ads, has dented confidence in advertising around drama or comedy programmes, whereas Premier League games are shown without interruption during play.

ESPN, which is the largest US sports broadcaster, has increased its coverage of non-US sports in recent years and this year bought Cricinfo, the world's largest cricket website, as well as Scrum.com, the largest rugby site.

Bodenheimer described the recent purchase of the websites as "a good way to get started" for international expansion.

He said: "There are lower barriers to entry in setting up a website than if you are setting up a TV business."

The comments come as ESPN prepares to bolster its presence in Europe with the rebranding of North American Sports Network as ESPN. The channel, which is in 10m European homes, could carry live English football.

ESPN also owns the rights to show the Premier League in the US and broadcasts Major League Soccer, the US domestic league in which David Beckham plays for the LA Galaxy. It also airs Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA and College Football and Basketball.

Bodenheimer said Beckham's arrival had given the channel's ratings an uplift. "It will be looked as a ground-breaking move," he said.

ESPN, which has 34 networks outside the US, serves 194 countries in 16 languages. It will soon launch ESPN 360, a video service bundled by internet service providers in Europe.