The NBC network according to soccernet.com in a blockbuster deal has won the rights to air English Premier League taking coverage away from ESPN and FOX.
The deal is for the period of three years and worth $250 million and will be in place for the 2013-2014 season. The move to NBC will see the viewers in the United States able to see six lives games when the league is in action.
What many see as the most popular football (soccer) league in the world has millions of followers not only in England but also worldwide.NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus said. "The Barclays Premier League is the pre-eminent soccer league in the world, and is on the cusp of exponential growth here in the U.S."
NBC who also not carries Major League Soccer sponsored Adidas will also look to capitalize on success the American league has had being aired on its network.
NBC will primarily air the English League on its new formed NBC Sports network which they rename from Versus after they took over the network. The channel major sporting boom comes from the NHL which happens to run alongside the Premier League season.
Lazarus said. "It's a younger skewing sport than some others out there, like some that are in a championship series right now."
Currently the Fox Soccer Channel networks are the main EPL broadcaster in the United States and had bought the rights to the league for $80 million with ESPN handling one or two games a game week.
According to soccernet.com the EPL said that NBC will deliver the "biggest and broadest programming and promotion commitment ever in the United States."
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