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BT Sport 4 is a British sports television channel owned by
Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The subsidiary is responsible for managing the collection of their cable and satellite networks around the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. History WarnerMedia ...
and the
BT Group BT Group plc ( trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, bro ...
. It is part of the
BT Sport BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Bro ...
group of channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and is predominantly focused on sports from North America. The channel was established by ESPN Inc. on 3 August 2009 as ESPN (or ESPN UK), after having acquired a share of rights to
English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
. It served as ESPN's first UK channel devoted to domestic sport, as its pan-European sister networks
ESPN Classic ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%). The channel was originally la ...
and
ESPN America ESPN America was a British-based European sports network, focusing on professional and collegiate sports of the United States and Canada. Originally launched on 5 December 2002 as NASN (the ''North American Sports Network''), ESPN America broadca ...
were devoted to archive content and North American sport respectively. Alongside the Premier League, the channel acquired shares of the rights to the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
, Scottish Premier League,
Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...
, and
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
among other properties. The channel also carried coverage of sport from the United States (such as the NBA, NFL, NHL, and U.S.
college sports College athletics encompasses non-professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games. World University Games The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the ''Union Nationale des ...
, some of which carried over from ESPN America), and ESPN original programmes. In 2012, ESPN began losing many of its signature sport properties (including the Premier League) to BT Group and its forthcoming BT Sport service. On 25 February 2013, ESPN announced that it would exit the UK and Ireland market and sell its television operations to BT Group, which integrated the network into BT Sport upon its launch that August. The channel continued to operate under the ESPN name under licence, and was later co-branded as BT Sport ESPN. In 2015, BT Group reached a long-term deal with
ESPN International ESPN International is a family of sportscasting and production networks around the world. It was begun in 1989, is operated by ESPN Inc. and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Operating regions Latin America Spanish-speaking countries * ES ...
to continue holding British rights to ESPN-owned sports rights and original programmes. In August 2022, ahead of the takeover of BT Sport by
Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...
, the channel dropped the ESPN branding and was rebranded as BT Sport 4, with no change in programmes.


History

The channel launched on 3 August 2009 following ESPN's acquisition of partial UK broadcast rights to the
English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
(EPL) six weeks prior, caused in turn by the financial difficulties of
Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...
, which ceased broadcasting in
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
at about the same time. It marked ESPN's first foray into live coverage of domestic sports events in the UK. Prior to August 2009, ESPN's only operations in the UK were archive sports channel
ESPN Classic ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%). The channel was originally la ...
, as well as the pan-European
ESPN America ESPN America was a British-based European sports network, focusing on professional and collegiate sports of the United States and Canada. Originally launched on 5 December 2002 as NASN (the ''North American Sports Network''), ESPN America broadca ...
channel (then known as North American Sports Network), which focused on North American sport. On 13 June 2012, it was announced that ESPN had missed out on EPL broadcast rights from the 2013–14 to 2015–16 season to Sky Sports and BT, despite making a "strong bid". The news followed speculation that ESPN was reconsidering its position in the UK. In the following months, ESPN also lost the rights to Premiership Rugby, Premiership Rugby Sevens Series and American, Brazilian, French and Italian top-flight football to BT. On 1 February 2013, '' Broadcast'' reported that ESPN had entered talks to sell off its remaining sports rights, believed to be worth more than £15m. During The Walt Disney Company's first quarter earnings results conference call on 5 February 2013, Disney's chief financial officer Jay Rasulo confirmed that ESPN had "experienced losses" in the UK and was "exploring an exit". On 25 February 2013, BT agreed to acquire ESPN's UK and Ireland TV channels business, which were integrated into BT Sport upon its launch. The value of the deal had not been disclosed, but BT was understood to be paying "low tens of millions". In January 2015, BT reached a long-term rights deal with ESPN, allowing the network to maintain its affiliation with ESPN International, and its rights to original programmes and sports properties owned by ESPN outright or to which it holds international rights. On 9 June 2015, BT rebranded the channel as BT Sport ESPN. On 11 May 2022, BT Group announced that the BT Sport channels would become a joint venture with
Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...
(WBD), and merge with
Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...
UK at a later date. On 1 August 2022, the ESPN branding was dropped from the channel, which was renamed BT Sport 4; the channel continues to primarily carry U.S. sport (such as
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
and college sports).


Availability


Before August 2013

A carriage and retail agreement for both residential and commercial customers was struck with
British Sky Broadcasting Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...
, who sold the channel through their Sky platform. British Sky Broadcasting's Sky Media also acted as ad sales house for the channel. Some events were also transmitted on Sky 3D including the
Winter X Games XV Winter X Games XV (styled as Winter X Games Fifteen in the official logo) were held from January 26 to January 30, 2011, in Aspen, Colorado. They are the 10th consecutive Winter X Games to be held in Aspen. The events were broadcast on ESPN. Sport ...
,
2011 FA Cup Final The 2011 FA Cup Final was the 130th final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest domestic football cup competition. The final took place on 14 May 2011 at Wembley Stadium in London in front of 88,643 spectators and a British television audience of m ...
and
2011 NBA Finals The 2011 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2010–11 season. The Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks defeated the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat in six games to win thei ...
. From 22 July 2011 ESPN was available without additional charge to full Sky Sports Pack subscribers in Ireland. ESPN is available on
Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...
in standard and high definition as a part of the XL pack. M, M+ or L pack customers can subscribe to ESPN and BT Sport. A discount was previously available to Sky Sports subscribers. After the acquisition of ESPN by BT Sport on 1 August 2013, Virgin Media customers lost access to ESPN channels, despite Virgin Media and BT being in talks for more than 2 months prior to the switch over. ESPN and ESPN HD returned on 15 August after BT signed a wholesale deal with Virgin Media for the carriage of BT Sport. Top Up TV carried ESPN from 4 August 2009. A connection fee applied to non-Top Up TV subscribers, ex-Setanta
digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...
customers or those without a viewing card. On 26 July 2011 Top Up TV announced that ESPN would be available via a conditional-access module (CAM) when the CAM service was launched in August.
BT Vision BT TV is a subscription IPTV service offered by BT; a division of United Kingdom telecommunications company BT Group, and was originally launched as BT Vision in December 2006. As of the end of June 2019, BT TV had 1.9 million customers. ...
has carried ESPN from 4 August 2009 as part of BT Vision's Value Packs (Bronze, Silver and Gold). On both BT Vision and Top Up TV, ESPN broadcasts from 14:00 – 04:00 on weekdays, 11:00 – 06:00 on Saturday and 11:00 – 04:00 on Sunday.
TalkTalk TV TalkTalk TV is a UK-based consumer television and video on demand service, operated by the TalkTalk Group that originally launched in 2000. In September 2012, the current TalkTalk TV was launched in partnership with YouView. Its television a ...
(then known as Tiscali TV) carried ESPN from 14 August 2009, along with ESPN America. ESPN was available on Smallworld Cable without additional charge when taken with the Ultimate HD TV Pack. Other customers can subscribe to ESPN. On 14 August 2009, a deal with cable company
UPC Ireland Virgin Media Ireland is Liberty Global's telecommunications operation in Ireland. It is the largest digital cable television provider within the country. As of 31 December 2014, the company offers broadband internet, digital television and d ...
and ESPN was reached. On that date ESPN and ESPN HD launched on UPC. A discount is available to Sky Sports or
Setanta Sports 1 Eir Sport 2 (stylised as eir Sport 2, formerly Setanta Sports 1) was an Irish pay television channel owned by Setanta Sports Channel Ireland.ESPN America ESPN America was a British-based European sports network, focusing on professional and collegiate sports of the United States and Canada. Originally launched on 5 December 2002 as NASN (the ''North American Sports Network''), ESPN America broadca ...
ceased to be part of the Setanta Sports package on that date, and was bundled with ESPN instead. On 4 January 2010, UPC and ESPN announced a new deal whereby ESPN (including its HD counterpart) and ESPN America would become part of UPC's Digital Select Extra and Digital Max packages. ESPN have offered a number of free periods, ranging between a weekend and a month. In February 2012 a free weekend covered a
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
match between Manchester City and Fulham, marking the first time that a Premier League fixture had been broadcast
free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...
in the UK. During the same weekend the channel was also available on TVCatchup.


From August 2013

After ESPN's acquisition by
BT Group BT Group plc ( trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, bro ...
in 2013, BT have included ESPN as part of their
BT Sport BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Bro ...
Pack and is available on Sky,
Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...
, and
BT TV BT TV is a subscription IPTV service offered by BT; a division of United Kingdom telecommunications company BT Group, and was originally launched as BT Vision in December 2006. As of the end of June 2019, BT TV had 1.9 million customers ...
, as well as online via the BT Sport website and BT Sport app. BT Sport ESPN is also available in the Republic of Ireland through
eir Sport Eir Sport (stylised as eir Sport; formerly Setanta Sports) was a group of Irish television sports channels operated by Eircom Sport Limited, a subsidiary of Eir. In December 2015, Eir purchased original Setanta Sports operations in the Republi ...
.


Content

This section describes the content that ESPN UK showed before BT Sport morphed ESPN UK into a channel focused mainly on American sport.


Current


Basketball

On 30 July 2009, ESPN announced a deal to air EuroBasket.


Cricket

On 22 July 2010, ESPN agreed a deal with the
West Indies Cricket Board Cricket West Indies (CWI) is the governing body for cricket in the West Indies (a sporting confederation of over a dozen mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries and dependencies that once formed the British West Indies). It was originally ...
for exclusive UK broadcast rights to the inaugural Caribbean T20 Tournament. The event, which ran from 22–31 July, featured eight West Indian
Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...
teams, including
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
,
Combined Campuses and Colleges Combined may refer to: * Alpine combined (skiing), the combination of slalom and downhill skiing as a single event ** Super combined (skiing) * Nordic combined (skiing), the combination of cross country skiing and ski jumping as a single event * T ...
, Guyana,
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, Trinidad and Toboago and the
Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea No ...
competing to win the
Caribbean Twenty20 The Caribbean Twenty20 was an annual tournament Twenty20 cricket tournament in the West Indies that was held four times from 2010 to 2013. The top performing domestic team qualified for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament. It was replaced by ...
title. These rights now air on BT Sport. The channel has also completed a deal to show the inaugural
Sri Lanka Premier League The Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) was a Twenty20 cricket competition in Sri Lanka. It was intended to be the premier Twenty20 league in the country, held by Sri Lanka Cricket, when it replaced the Inter-Provincial Twenty20 competition. Afte ...
tournament in August 2012.


Football


=English football

=


Premier League

The company announced on 22 June 2009 that it had secured the UK broadcast rights to the
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
for four seasons, airing 46 games in the 2009–10 season and 23 games a year for the following three seasons, following a missed payment by Setanta Sports which voided their contracts. In Ireland, ESPN will air the same 46 matches during the 2009–10 season. Premier League coverage was produced by Sky Sports in-house production team, with former BBC presenter Ray Stubbs hosting, while Rebecca Lowe reports from the touchline and Jon Champion commentates alongside either Chris Waddle or Craig Burley. Kevin Keegan is the lead analyst, while Guus Hiddink,
Shaka Hislop Neil Shaka Hislop CM (born 22 February 1969) is a retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in England, he played for them at under-21 level before representing Trinidad and Tobago at senior international level. The majority of his ...
, Frank Leboeuf, Danny Murphy,
Peter Reid Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and former player. A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield tale ...
, Matt Holland and
Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...
were also signed to provide analysis. Mark Chapman, Nat Coombs and
Kelly Cates Kelly Cates (née Dalglish) is a Scottish presenter, currently working for Sky Sports, Radio 5 Live, and ESPN. Early life Born in Glasgow, Kelly is the eldest of four children of former Celtic and Liverpool player and manager Sir Kenny Dalgl ...
also form a part of the line up. IMG Sports Media make the studio shows and ancillary programming. The first Premier League match to be shown on ESPN was Everton's 6–1 loss against Arsenal. From the 2010–11 season Sky no longer produced coverage of matches, instead coverage was taken over by IMG Sports Media, in an effort to offer "quality and innovation" and introduce new technology from the broadcaster's US parent to help develop post-match analysis. The change also affected FA Cup and Scottish Premier League coverage. ESPN have also increased the number of cameras at games from an average of 16 cameras to 23. After ESPN lost the rights to the Premier League to BT Sport, ESPN Inc. sold the channel to BT Sport.


FA Cup

On 7 December 2009, it was reported that ESPN had secured the rights to 25 live and exclusive
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
matches per season from the 2010–11 season under a four season deal. ESPN televised two matches in the FA Cup First and Second Rounds (plus up to two replays per round), three matches from the Third to Fifth Rounds (plus up to one replay), two quarter-finals (plus up to one replay), one semi-final, and aired the
FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...
alongside ITV (which held the first pick of matches). ESPN's offer is thought to have been 60% higher than that tabled by the BBC, however, that bid is also understood to be for a longer contract period and still worth substantially less than the amount paid by Setanta. The 2011,
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
, and
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
FA Cup finals were shown live on ESPN. In 2012 and 2013 the buildup coverage for the finals started from eight in the morning with 5.15 evening kick-offs. An outside standing studio was set up behind the goals for pre-match and post-match analysis presented by Ray Stubbs. As ESPN was acquired by the BT Group before the start of the 2013–14 season, the final year of ESPN's FA Cup contract, coverage of the competition moved to BT Sport.


Women's Super League

As part of a four-year deal for FA Cup coverage, formally announced on 8 December 2009, ESPN has exclusive media rights for the inaugural
FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features ...
in 2011. The channel continues to show this after the acquisition of ESPN by BT Sport.


=Scottish leagues

= On 16 July 2009, it was announced that ESPN had secured the broadcast rights to 30 live Scottish Premier League (SPL) games per season across the UK and Ireland, for five seasons, starting with the 2009–10 season. Sky Sports had also shown 30 live games per season during this period, including each of the
Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...
games. The SPL retained the right to opt out of the final two seasons of the deal. On 21 November 2011, ESPN's deal with the SPL was extended for five years from the 2012–13 season, however on 3 August 2012 ESPN announced a new five-year agreement allowing it to air 30 SPL games per season and 10 Rangers games from the Scottish Football League (SFL), including three home fixtures. Ray Stubbs hosts, with Derek Rae and Craig Burley commentating. Darrell Currie is touchline reporter and regular studio guests include
Colin Hendry Edward Colin James Hendry (born 7 December 1965) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer. Hendry, who played as a defender notably played in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers where he was part of the title winning ...
,
Mark Hateley Mark Wayne Hateley (born 7 November 1961) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his career with Coventry City F.C. in the First Division of English football. A spell followed at English Second Divisi ...
,
Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...
and Scott Booth. The first SPL fixture broadcast on the channel was
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
's 2–0 victory over Hearts on 17 August 2009. BT Sport renegotiated the contract alongside Sky Sports to cover the newly formed Scottish Professional Football League on the BT Sport network.


=UEFA Europa League

= On 1 September 2009, ESPN secured a three-year TV rights deal to broadcast matches from the
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
, previously held by Setanta Sports. At a minimum, ESPN will broadcast one match from each kick-off slot. On 17 October 2011, ESPN were also awarded part of the rights to the 2012–13 to 2014–15 seasons. ESPN shared the rights to the Europa League with Channel 5 and ITV. As part of the deal, ESPN serve as host broadcaster for any live home matches featuring British clubs that it is transmitting and have the rights to air matches over the internet and via mobile wireless technologies. During the inaugural season of the Europa League, ESPN broadcast live matches featuring British teams Celtic, Everton,
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
and Fulham, as well as 45 other European clubs, including holders
Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...
. ESPN were only host broadcasters for two matches, Everton's 2–1 first-leg victory over
Sporting Lisbon Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...
on 16 February and Fulham's 4–1 second-leg victory over Juventus on 18 March. When the
ITV network ITV is a British free-to-air public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the ol ...
became the primary broadcasters after Channel 5 lost the rights to the Europa League, ESPN continued to cover the Europa League. After the acquisition of ESPN by BT Sport, the coverage airs on BT Sport branded channels and from 2015–16 season BT will be exclusive broadcasters of the Europa League, with highlights on ITV.


=UEFA Champions League

= Following BT Sport's acquisition of exclusive UEFA Champions League rights, ESPN broadcast the ''UEFA Champions League Goals Show'', a live panel show which simulcasts all the goals and other key incidents from the matches taking place in the competition. The programme is shown during the group stage of the competition and was broadcast on ESPN for 2015–16 UEFA Champions League, 2015–16, before moving to BT Sport 1 for 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, 2016–17.


=Foreign club football

= On 28 July 2009, ESPN announced that they had secured television rights to show up to two live games per week from the Eredivisie, Portuguese Liga, up to two live games per week from the Russian Premier League and the remainder of the 2009 Major League Soccer season, 2009 Major League Soccer season, including five play-off games and the MLS Cup 2009. For the 2010–11 season ESPN renewed its contracts for the Eredivisie and Russian Premier League and broadcast at least two matches each week from the Major League Soccer season, including play-off games. ESPN signed a multi-year deal for up to five live games per week from the German Fußball-Bundesliga, Bundesliga, a selection of which is in high definition, as well as weekly preview and highlight programmes. During the 2010–11 DFB-Pokal, 2010–11 season, ESPN also broadcast the quarter finals, semi-finals and final from the DFB-Pokal. On 5 August 2009, ESPN announced that they had secured the rights for up to three live Serie A matches per week for the 2009–10 Serie A, 2009–10 season as well as the Coppa Italia. ESPN also showed the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana which took place on 8 August 2009. For the 2010–11 Serie A, 2010–11 season ESPN aires at least two games per week from Serie A, as well as a selection of Coppa Italia games. ESPN also continued to broadcast ''ESPN Kicks'' – recapping all of the weekend's goals, as well as weekly preview show, ''Total Italian Football''. In May 2012, ESPN acquired the rights to broadcast the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A from Brazil, followed by a deal in June to broadcast Ligue 1 from France. In July, ESPN announced a renewed multi-season Bundesliga rights deal, lasting until the 2014–15 season, for up to four matches per week (all in high definition). It will also screen action from the DFL-Supercup, as well as a highlights packages and video on-demand footage. In addition, agreements for the Eredivisie and Russian Premier League were also renewed. Foreign club football airs on BT Sport and ESPN after the acquisition of ESPN by BT Sport


=International football

= The first international football match shown on ESPN was the pre-season friendly match between Russia national football team, Russia and Argentina national football team, Argentina on 12 August 2009, which saw Argentina win 3–2. The first youth international match was the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, European Under-21 Championship qualification match between England national under-21 football team, England under-21s and Macedonia national under-21 football team, FYR Macedonia under-21s on 4 September 2009, which England won 2–1. On 5 October 2009, ESPN secured a multi-year deal to show 150 classic FIFA World Cup matches from 1930 FIFA World Cup, 1930 to 2006 FIFA World Cup, 2006. The matches are shown on ESPN and ESPN Classic. As part of a four-year deal for FA Cup coverage, formally announced on 8 December 2009, ESPN will show all of the England Under-21s home fixtures. These matches have since moved to BT Sport who now own ESPN. On 24 May 2010, ESPN announced that it had acquired UK exclusive broadcast rights to live coverage from 41 international football fixtures, including "at least" 16 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, qualifiers for the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament, from the Kentaro rights agency. It is understood that the batch of games will feature a broad mix of European national sides, potentially including some home nations. ESPN will also broadcast 20 international friendlies and live coverage from the Brazil national football team, Brazil World Tour, in which the five-time World Cup winners take on national teams from around the world. The first of these fixtures to be shown was the 2010 FIFA World Cup, World Cup warm-up match between Argentina national football team, Argentina and Canada men's national soccer team, Canada on 24 May 2010, which was won 5–0 by the home side, these matches moved to BT Sport after the acquisition. Sky Sports have exclusive coverage of all qualifiers within Europe from 2014–2018, apart from England national football team, England matches and one other qualifier per matchday, which air on ITV. On 15 July 2010, ESPN secured broadcast rights to all France national football team, France and Germany national football team, Germany's UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, Euro 2012 qualifying matches. ESPN broadcast selected home friendly matches featuring France and Germany. During May 2011, ESPN secured the rights to the 2011 Copa América.


=Pre-season football

= ESPN showed Real Madrid C.F., Real Madrid's 2009 tour of North America, including live matches against Toronto FC on 7 August and D.C. United, DC United on 9 August, S.L. Benfica, Benfica versus A.C. Milan, AC Milan on 8 August and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur versus Ethnikos Olympiakos Volos F.C., Olympiakos on 9 August. In January 2010, ESPN showed Football in Argentina, Argentine Torneos de Verano (Argentina), Torneos de Verano matches, including the Triangular de Verano 2010 Mar del Plata contested between Boca Juniors, Estudiantes de La Plata, Estudiantes and Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, San Lorenzo, the Triangular de Verano 2010 Salta involving Club Atlético River Plate, River Plate, Racing Club de Avellaneda, Racing Club and Club Atlético Independiente, Independiente as well as the Copa Revancha Mendoza between Boca Juniors and River Plate on 24 January. Between 23–25 July 2010, ESPN aired all four games from the New York Football Challenge, which featured Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, New York Red Bulls and
Sporting Lisbon Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...
. Manchester City will then take on Club América, Borussia Dortmund, Valencia CF, Valencia and 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, Champions League winners F.C. Internazionale Milano, Inter Milan on a ten-day tour of America between 29 July and 7 August. ESPN also aired Tottenham's match against S.L. Benfica, Benfica in Lisbon on 1 August and Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle's friendly against Rangers in Glasgow on 7 August. In 2011, ESPN broadcast all four games of 2011 Emirates Cup, as well as a number of other pre-season friendlies. In 2012, ESPN will broadcast more than 20 club and international football friendlies over the summer, including the LIGA total! Cup.


=Charity football

= On 25 January 2010, ESPN aired the ''Match Against Poverty 2010'', where a Benfica All-Stars XI took on a team of legends selected by Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo (Brazilian footballer), Ronaldo, in Lisbon to benefit the United Nations Development Programme and SL Benfica Foundation.


Mixed martial arts

On 30 July 2009, ESPN announced that they had secured the rights to Ultimate Fighting Championship events from UFC 101 onwards as well as ''The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights'', ''UFC All Access'', ''UFC Countdown'', ''UFC Fight Nights'' and ''UFC Unleashed''. Alongside ESPN, Channel 5 airs a one-hour highlights show called ''UFC: Main Event'' and 5USA aired the debut showing of ''The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights''. However, ESPN showed ''The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale'' live and in full. BT Sport now shows this after the acquisition, ''The Ultimate Fighter'' now airs on FX (UK), FX.


Rugby union

On 30 July 2009, ESPN announced that they would cover the French Top 14 live, coverage lasted until the end of the 2011–12 Top 14 season, 2011–12 season. In addition, ESPN broadcast live international clashes featuring New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand, Samoa national rugby union team, Samoa and South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa. This now airs on Sky Sports. On 14 December 2009, ESPN agreed a three-year deal for exclusive live rights to 43 matches per season from the Premiership Rugby, English Premiership, beginning with the 2010–11 season, including exclusive live coverage of the English Premiership Final and one of the two semi-final matches. The agreement also provides highlight rights for use on ESPN digital media such as ESPNScrum.com. Sky Sports will continue to show 26 live games per season plus the other semi-final. On 15 April 2010, ESPN signed Austin Healey as an expert contributor for its English Premiership presentation team, followed by Nick Mullins as chief match commentator on 27 May and Ben Kay as co-commentator on 9 June. Mark Durden-Smith will act as lead host, joined by reporter Sarra Elgan. ESPN has also confirmed plans to start providing on-site coverage for many of its English Premiership games via a custom-built set, with production from Tinopolis, Sunset + Vine. BT Sport now show this after the acquisition of ESPN by BT Sport however most of the ESPN team work for BT Sport. On 9 June 2010, ESPN agreed a deal with Premiership Rugby for exclusive UK broadcast rights to the Premiership Rugby 7s Series, J.P. Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s Series Series. The new tournament, which took place over July and August 2010, involved all 12 Premiership Rugby clubs competing in Friday evening games. The broadcaster has also shown the 2011 and 2012 tournaments. BT Sport now shows this after the acquisition of ESPN by BT Sport.


Tennis

In March 2012. the channel showed its first tennis coverage – the Billie Jean King Cup from Madison Square Garden. During the same month, ESPN secured the rights to a series of ATP World Tour 250 events for 2012, as well as three WTA International tournaments.


US sports

ESPN also show some of the US sports available on ESPN America, including
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
, the National Hockey League, and U.S. college sports. For a period it also held the rights to the NFL's ''Monday Night Football'', which is produced by ESPN. In addition, the channel airs the ESPN Films' 30 for 30 series.


Other sports

On 30 July 2009, ESPN announced that they will cover the up to three live matches a week plus highlights from the Australian Football League including the four-week finals series culminating with the Grand Final. As part of the same announcement, it was revealed that ESPN will show Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters live. BT Sport now show this after the acquisition of ESPN by BT Sport. ESPN screened their first live boxing event on 19 September 2009, broadcasting ''Friday Night Fights'' from America with Guillermo Rigondeaux topping the bill. On 8 December 2010, Premier Sports announced an exclusive UK deal for 31 live Friday Night Fight events from January 2011 on an initial 2-year deal. BT Sport now show this. ESPN aired the National Rugby League season 2009, 2009 National Rugby League first Preliminary Final live on 25 September, the second Preliminary Final on 26 September and the Grand Final live on 4 October. Premier Sport now airs this. On 3 March 2010, ESPN agreed a deal for the UK broadcast rights to the first ever European Winter X Games. All competition finals from the Winter X Games Europe at the French ski resort of Tignes was shown live and exclusive from 10–12 March. On 4 March 2010, ESPN agreed a deal for the UK broadcast rights to the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 2010 World Indoor Athletic Championships held between 12–14 March at the ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence, ASPIRE Dome in Doha. On 12 January 2011, ESPN and North One Television, North One Sport, the promoter of the World Rally Championship (WRC), reached an agreement for the WRC to be televised exclusively on ESPN in the UK. ESPN will screen 30-minute nightly bulletins at the end of every WRC day, with on-event coverage bookended by an hour-long preview and review show. Between events, ESPN is committing 30-hour-long shows with archive material from the sport, as well as two new documentary programmes. In addition to coverage on ESPN, WRC footage will also be aired on ESPN Classic. ITV4, Motors TV and BT Sport now show this. On 6 July 2011, it was announced that the 2011 World Masters (darts), World Masters of darts would air live and exclusively on ESPN, with the event extended to three days three-days for the first time as part of the agreement with the British Darts Organisation. This tournament now airs on British Eurosport but ESPN deal ended nine consecutive years of coverage on the BBC. In addition, ESPN agreed to share coverage of the 2012 BDO World Darts Championship, 2012 and 2013 BDO World Darts Championship with the BBC. ESPN also broadcast the Professional Darts Corporation, PDC 2012 European Championship (darts), 2012 European Championship in September. ESPN was the first broadcaster in Britain to show both BDO and PDC tournaments at the same time. When BT Sport acquired ESPN they dropped darts but since 2015 they have shared coverage of the BDO World Darts Championships, with the BBC in 2015 and 2016, and with Channel 4 in 2017 and 2018. In November 2011 ESPN showed two golf tournaments from Australia. In October 2012, ESPN announced that it will start broadcasting games from the Kontinental Hockey League, Europe's top ice hockey competition.


Previous


Basketball


= NBA

= On 30 September 2009, ESPN announced that they had secured a multi-year deal to show live National Basketball Association games. The channel show up to three live matches a week during the NBA season in standard and high definition, including one game at Sunday primetime. It also carries NBA All-Star Games and action from the season NBA Playoffs, playoffs and NBA Finals, final. ESPN also broadcast studio shows ''NBA Fastbreak'' and ''NBA Action''. Live pre-season coverage began on ESPN on 6 October 2009 when the Utah Jazz took on the Chicago Bulls as part of NBA Europe Live Tour. Coverage continued on 8 October 2009 for Utah Jazz against Euroleague Basketball's Real Madrid Baloncesto. The NBA season officially started on 27 October 2009. ESPN UK was unable to secure the rights to the 2012–13 NBA season until 5 December 2012 when a deal was made between NBA and ESPN to show 3 games a week, NBA All Star Game, First and Second Round NBA Play-off coverage, Western Conference Finals, and NBA Finals for this season (2012–13). Coverage began the following day. The channel continues to show this after the acquisition of ESPN by BT Sport until 2017–18 season. From 2018–19 season, coverage moved to Sky Sports.


= WNBA

= Same as the men's league games, WNBA games also moved to Sky Sports from 2018–19 season.


See also

*
BT Sport BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Bro ...
*ESPN *ESPN in the United Kingdom


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bt Sport 4 BT Sport, Sports television in the United Kingdom Sports television channels in the United Kingdom Television channels and stations established in 2009 Warner Bros. Discovery