ESPN360.com Inks Deal For Australian A-League Soccer
Live U.S. Broadband, Mobile Coverage

ESPN360.com, the broadband sports television network from ESPN, has reached a new agreement with IMG Sports Media to bring U.S. soccer fans another of the world’s top International soccer competitions – Australia’s Hyundai A-League.  ESPN360.com will deliver live coverage of up to 84 regular season matches (four matches per week) as well as up to six playoff matches, including the Grand Final.

ESPN will also stream select games on ESPN Mobile TV, its 24 hour mobile television network.

“Soccer fans in the U.S. are learning that ESPN360.com is their destination for global soccer and adding the A-League to our lineup serves our viewers another of the world’s leading leagues,” said Damon Phillips, vice president, ESPN360.com.

Run by Football Federation Australia (FFA), the Hyundai A-League is the premiere Australian professional soccer league.  It was founded in 2004 and staged its inaugural season in 2005-06. The league features eight teams, seven from Australia’s major cities and regional centers and one from New Zealand, with two to be added next season from the Gold Coast and North Queensland.

“We’re delighted to be able to showcase the Hyundai A-League in the US,” said FFA CEO, Ben Buckley. “It’s a relatively new competition which is growing across every indicator and we hope that American soccer fans will also become fans of Australian soccer, as well as get to know more about our players and Australia itself.”

A-League adds to ESPN360.com’s robust, and fast-growing, lineup of live broadband soccer coverage on ESPN360.com that includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Euro, UEFA Cup, FIFA World Cup and Women’s World Cup, The Football League (UK), Carling Cup, Portuguese Liga Sagres, Italian Serie A and Coppa Italia, CONCACAF, MLS, USA National Team, select World Cup qualifiers from around the world, Russian Premier League, Chinese Premiere League, J League (Japan), FIFA U-20 and Beach Soccer World Cup, UEFA U-19 and U-17 Championships, FIFA Futsal World Cup and several top invitational tournaments.

In the U.S., ESPN360.com is a 24/7 broadband sports television network, delivering more than 3,000 live global sports events annually. ESPN360.com is available at no charge to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection from an affiliated Internet service provider.  It is available free to approximately 18 million students and military personnel via any computer on a U.S. campus or military base computer network.  Additionally, it is available in 24 million households nationwide via more than 20 Internet service providers around the country including AT&T, Verizon, RCN, Frontier, Cavalier, Charter, Mediacom, Conway, Grande Communications and more.

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CONTACT:         Paul Melvin, ESPN       860.766.9581 or paul.melvin@espn.com <mailto:paul.melvin@espn.com>
Bonita Mersiades, FFA, +61 2 8354 5544 or bonita.mersiades@footballaustralia.com.au <mailto:bonita.mersiades@footballaustralia.com.au>