ESPN licenses multimedia rights to select Barclays Premier League matches in the U.S. from Fox Sports International

ESPN has reached an agreement with Fox Sports International for multimedia rights to select England’s Barclays Premier League (BPL) matches in the United States for the next three seasons, 2010-11 through 2012-13. The three-year sublicense includes up to 74 live matches each season on ESPN Deportes, ESPN2, ESPN3.com, and ESPN Mobile TV.ESPN’s multimedia coverage will kick off Saturday, August 14th with the opening match of the 2010-11 season: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester City. Most of ESPN’s coverage of Premier League matches will be available in high definition.“We remain committed to serving soccer fans in the United States by offering coverage of the best leagues in the world, and we are pleased to work with Fox Sports International to expand our rights of the Barclays Premier League in this country,” said Scott Guglielmino, Senior Vice President of Programming at ESPN.The addition of digital and Spanish-language rights and a regular schedule of weekday matches in the U.S. reflect ESPN’s increasing commitment to the Premier League and other top-tier professional soccer leagues. Last season, ESPN2 televised some 46 league matches, the network’s return to Premier League soccer since the 1996–97 and 1997-98 seasons when the then nascent network was the English-language television home for the league’s Monday night matches in the U.S.