UEFA European Football Championship exclusively on ESPN Deportes.

ESPN has reached a broad multimedia rights agreement with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for the UEFA European Football Championship™ in both 2012 and 2016, it was announced today. ESPN Deportes will be the exclusive Spanish-language television network in the United States for both championships, which will feature the top European national teams competing in one of the world’s most prestigious championships.

The agreement allows ESPN to provide extensive and exclusive live coverage of the UEFA EURO 2012 and 2016 across a variety of ESPN multimedia platforms, including ESPN Deportes, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3.com, ESPN Radio, ESPN Authenticated Services, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN.com, ESPNSoccernet.com, and ESPNDeportes.com. In addition, in-progress and post-match highlights can be featured across key ESPN outlets.

The agreement extends ESPN’s relationship with UEFA, the governing body for association football in Europe, having served as the U.S. television and digital home of the UEFA EURO 2008. ESPN earned much praise for its coverage of the 2008 event, which proved to be very popular among American audiences. More than 41 million viewers in the United States tuned into live UEFA EURO 2008 matches on ESPN networks.

“The UEFA European Football Championship is widely considered the most prestigious tournament in the world,” said Eric Conrad, senior director of programming and acquisitions for ESPN Deportes. “Our strong ratings and comprehensive coverage delivered across ESPN platforms during the 2008 tournament proves the interest and passion fans have for this property, and we are thrilled to bring back all the action live to Hispanic soccer fans throughout the U.S.”