ESPN360.com Inks Deal for Top Portuguese Soccer

ESPN360.com has reached a new agreement with IEC to
bring U.S. soccer fans
another of the world’s top International soccer competitions,
Portugal’s Liga
Sagres. ESPN360.com will deliver live coverage of multiple matches per
week, as many as 135 matches per season, over the next two seasons. Matches
will include coverage of Liga’s “Big Three” clubs – Sporting Lisbon, FC Porto,
and Benfica.
“We are delighted to partner with a company with
the global brand presence and status of ESPN,” said Jonas Persson, CEO of IEC
in Sports. “The Liga Sagres is one of IEC’s most important properties and this
new deal with ESPN further demonstrates our commitment to Portuguese Football.”
“The agreement with ESPN is of major importance to
the League and to football in
Portugal,”
added Diogo Caldas, General Manager of Sportinveste Multimédia SA, the company
handling worldwide New Media rights for Liga Sagres. “Having a partner with the
name and reputation of ESPN is a great step for Portuguese football. We feel
sure ESPN’s commitment to our League will greatly enhance its value and are
sure ESPN’s viewers will thoroughly enjoy the exciting action over the next two
seasons.”
Portuguese Liga Sagres adds to ESPN360.com’s lineup
of live broadband soccer coverage that includes UEFA Champions League, Euro
2008, UEFA Cup, FIFA World Cup and Women’s World Cup, Italian Serie A and Coppa
Italia, CONCACAF, MLS, USA National Team, select World Cup qualifiers from
around the world, Russian Premier League, Chinese Premiere League, J League
(Japan), FIFA U-20 and Beach Soccer World Cup, UEFA U-19 and U-17
Championships, FIFA Futsal World Cup and several invitational tournaments.