As reported on EOS earlier this week, the North American Soccer League has reached an agreement to broadcast nearly every NASL match on ESPN’s streaming service, ESPN3.
The nationwide broadcast deal is the first of its kind for NASL, delivering a minimum of 120 league matches to homes in the U.S. and 75 different countries on the ESPN3, ESPN Play, and ESPN Player platforms.
“Working with ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports, is going to be of great benefit to our fans, who will be able to watch the vast majority of our matches on ESPN3, ESPN Play, and ESPN Player this year,” said NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson in a league statement. “We have quickly developed a great relationship with ESPN, and we’re glad to be a part of their live coverage.”
According to the league release, eight NASL clubs, including the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Indy Eleven, Jacksonville Armada FC, Minnesota United FC, San Antonio Scorpions, and Tampa Bay Rowdies, will feature “15 regular season home matches live on ESPN3 in the U.S., ESPN Play in Latin America, and ESPN Player in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.”
“We’re pleased to extend our relationship with the North American Soccer League,” said Scott Guglielmino, senior vice president of programming at ESPN. “NASL on ESPN3, ESPN Play and ESPN Player will allow us to serve soccer fans both domestically and worldwide throughout the 2015 season.”
Due to previous broadcasting agreements, the New York Cosmos, Ottawa Fury FC, and FC Edmonton will not feature home games, but the majority of their road matches will be shown on ESPN3. One World Sports will carry the Cosmos, while the Fury broadcast matches through their website. FC Edmonton will carry there home games on City TV Edmonton.
The 2015 NASL Spring Season kicks off on Saturday, April 4 with five matches – all of which can be seen live on ESPN3.
Archived content originally from EmpireOfSoccer.com by Dave Martinez
