Sportsio & Fox Sports International Partnership.
January 19, 2002
Sportsio, a soccer digital media management company, and Fox Sports International announced details of a new five-year broadcast partnership that will provide a minimum of 25 United Soccer Leagues (USL) matches to be telecast on Fox Sports World. Spanish-language sports network Fox Sports World Español will also telecast a select number of matches with significant Hispanic support. The agreement begins in the 2002 season and ends on December 31, 2006.
All broadcast and digital media rights to USL are held by Sportsio, who will be responsible for the production of all games.
The new broadcast package will showcase 18 A-League regular season matches to be featured on Friday evenings, three A-League playoff matches including the A-League Final, the D3 Pro League Final, the Premier Development League (PDL) Final, the W-League Final and Super Y-League Finals. The final television schedule will be released in the next few weeks.
“We are thrilled to bring together USL and Fox to create a first-rate team to broadcast the largest soccer league in North America,” said Neil Meadows, Managing Director for Sportsio North America.
The agreement will also create cross-marketing, promotional and sales opportunities between USLsoccer.com (the official Web site for United Soccer Leagues), Fox Sports World, Fox Sports World Español and UMBRO.com (the official Web site for UMBRO, the majority shareholder in USL). USLsoccer.com will share news and content with Fox Sports World and Fox Sports World Español to raise the visibility of the league.
“This partnership with the United Soccer Leagues brings a new dimension to U.S. soccer,” said Bob Thompson, President of Fox Sports International. “By combining the expertise of both organizations, we strengthen our potential through a shared vision of opportunistic growth.”
The 2002 USL season kicks off on April 19 and concludes on September 28 with the A-League Final.
“United Soccer Leagues has entered into a new era with our new partnership with Fox,” said Dave Askinas, Executive Director and COO for USL. “Fox has a very successful track record in bringing soccer to its fans around the world. We couldn’t have a better partner to showcase our exciting league to the world.”
