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Executive Voice: As European Soccer Season Kicks Off, ESPN+ Emphasizes Commitment With Renewed Agreements

"The renewal of these rights agreements further demonstrates our commitment to ESPN+ as a must-have for soccer fans in the U.S. "

EDITOR’S NOTE: Sonia Gomez is the Senior Director of Programming and Acquisitions at ESPN, where she currently oversees the Soccer and Baseball portfolios for all platforms in the U.S. Gomez discusses ESPN+’s deep soccer lineup for years to come.

With all eyes on the European soccer stage, ESPN+ not only continues with its robust lineup of rights from top leagues like German Bundesliga and Spain’s LaLiga Santender, but we are proud to announce renewed agreements for rights to the English League Championship, Carabao Cup, Copa del Rey, SuperCopa de España and DFB-Pokal.

The renewal of these rights agreements further demonstrates our commitment to ESPN+ as a must-have for soccer fans in the U.S. Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup and LaLiga are the three jewels of Spanish soccer; EFL and the Carabao Cup with their storied traditions are a bedrock of association football; and the addition of German Cup means ESPN+ holds the rights to three of the top four domestic cups in European football.

A few highlights of the renewed agreements:

  • All 65 Copa del Rey matches will stream on ESPN+ in both English and Spanish, each season through 2027
  • SuperCopa de España matches will air on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ annually
  • Coverage begins in December for this agreement
  • The English League Championship agreement includes 180 matches per season, approximately 50 additional from the previous agreement, and including select EFL matches live on ESPN linear networks
  • ESPN+ will be the exclusive U.S. media home for the EFL Carabao Cup in English and Spanish, featuring 30 matches across the competition and the title match
  • Coverage began at the end of July with the season opener between Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town
  • German Cup will include a minimum of 40 matches per season on ESPN+ through 2026, with five matches also made available on ESPN linear networks
  • Coverage began at the beginning of August for this agreement

We look forward to kicking off our third season streaming every Bundesliga match and our second season streaming every LaLiga match, all on ESPN+. Coverage of Bundesliga kicked off this past weekend, and LaLiga coverage gets underway Friday with CA Osasuno taking on Sevilla at 2:30 p.m. ET and FC Barcelona versus Rayo Vallecano at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes.

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