FOX Sports Secures Multiplatform Media Rights to 2016 Copa America Centenario

FOX Sports has secured multi-platform media rights to the historic 2016 Copa America Centenario, a soccer tournament coming in June that features the national teams from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and the United States, who are among the 16 teams deciding the champion of the Americas. Copa America is considered the oldest international continental soccer tournament and has never before been held outside of South America. This year’s event is a special edition celebrating the tournament’s first 100 years.

In addition to the U.S. Men’s National Team, international superstars including Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr. and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez are expected to play in what is considered the biggest soccer tournament hosted on American soil since the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

“We are incredibly excited to add the Copa America Centenario to our ever-expanding portfolio of elite, world-class soccer events,” said David Nathanson, FOX Sports Head of Business Operations. “With the Copa America Centenario in June, the Confederations Cup next year, followed by the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019, FOX Sports is the home to most major national team tournaments, to go along with an unrivaled portfolio of club competitions and leagues from the UEFA Champions League to Major League Soccer to the German Bundesliga.”

FOX Sports is planning comprehensive multiplatform coverage of the 2016 Copa America Centenario, televising all 32 matches live across 10 venues nationwide from June 3 to June 26, with matches appearing on FOX broadcast network, FS1, and FS2.  In addition, FOX Sports expects to offer pregame, post game and complimentary programming over the month-long tournament. Digitally, all games are available on FOX Sports GO, FOX Soccer 2Go and on desktops at FOXSportsGO.com. Full schedule commitments and coverage plans are expected at a later date.

The tournament begins with a round-robin stage featuring four groups of four teams, with Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States the top-seeded teams in each group. As a result, FOX Sports features each team a minimum of three times.

The rest of the groups, comprised of eight more South American teams (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) and four more teams from the United States and Mexico’s CONCACAF region (Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica and Panama), are to be decided at the Copa America Centenario Official Draw to be held in New York City on February 21. The top two teams from each group advances to the quarterfinals of an ensuing single-game knockout phase.

The U.S. Men’s National Team opens the tournament on Friday, June 3 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, with the final set for Sunday, June 26 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.