ESPN has announced a new multi-year agreement with Relevent Sports Group for media rights to the International Champions Cup.
- The extension grants ESPN English and Spanish language rights in the U.S., Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean through 2021.
- The International Champions Cup is the soccer season’s first competition featuring top-tier and championship-winning clubs.
- In the U.S., ESPN and ESPN Deportes will televise 15 matches per year, while ESPN+ will exclusively carry up to 10 matches live in English and Spanish.
- ESPN platforms will also cover the Women’s International Champions Cup, a new women’s tournament which started in 2018, as well as the International Champions Cup Futures tournament, which also began in 2018.
- The International Champions Cup Futures tournament featured an under-14 boys tournament with youth clubs from around the world last year and in 2019 it will be expanded to include an under-15 girls tournament as well.
- The 2019 International Champions Cup tournament will mark the fourth straight year the tournament matches will be played on ESPN.
What they’re saying:
- Burke Magnus, Executive Vice President, Programming and Scheduling, ESPN: “The International Champions Cup has quickly become the premier summer club tournament in global football with elite teams from around the world competing against one another. By extending our relationship with Relevent Sports Group, we will now expand coverage of the event to include ESPN+ and we will add the Women’s ICC as an important part of our company’s soccer portfolio.”
- Relevent Sports Group Executive Chairman Charlie Stillitano: “In 6 years, the International Champions Cup has become a fixture on the soccer calendar and the official start of the soccer season and ESPN has played a big part in that process. When looking to advance the tournament, we extended our agreement with ESPN, in large part because they share our vision of growing the sport of soccer both domestically and around the world.”
- Relevent Sports Group CEO Daniel Sillman: “We are proud to once again be working with ESPN, who has been the ideal broadcast partner, increasing the International Champions Cup’s visibility to millions of fans. The addition of the ICC Women’s and Futures broadcasts will be hugely impactful in developing these tournaments into best of class properties.”