USL Releases Further Details, TV Schedule for Championship Season | Sports Destination Management

USL Releases Further Details, TV Schedule for Championship Season

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Feb 25, 2020

The first of seven games on ESPNews takes place the opening weekend of the Championship season, pitting San Diego Loyal SC and Head Coach Landon Donovan against Las Vegas Lights FC and Head Coach Eric Wynalda at Torero Stadium in San Diego as the hosts compete in their first competitive game on Saturday, March 7 at 10:30 p.m. ET.
 
As part of the new rights agreement reached between the USL and ESPN this past August, the Championship will have Spanish-language coverage of 10 games on ESPN Deportes, beginning with the Tampa Bay Rowdies hosting Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on Friday, March 27 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
 
The league’s ESPN2 coverage kicks off on Wednesday, April 29 when Memphis 901 FC welcomes the Charleston Battery to AutoZone Park before San Diego Loyal SC returns to host El Paso Locomotive FC on Wednesday, August 12 at 10 p.m. ET.
 

Overall, more than 590 games from the USL Championship will air on ESPN+, the industry-leading direct-to-consumer sports streaming platform, with coverage beginning on the opening day of the season, Friday, March 6. In addition, ESPN+ will feature more than 170 games from USL League One when its season kicks off on Friday, March 27.

About the USL Championship - The USL Championship is one of the most successful professional soccer leagues in the world, reaching a population of more than 84 million fans and fueling the growth of the game across North America. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, the USL provides unparalleled club support with a growing team of more than 60 professionals across 17 departments, ranging from operations to marketing, communications and sponsorship.
 
The USL Championship has a national media agreement with ESPN, wherein all league matches are broadcast on ESPN+ and across linear channels. The league also operates USL Productions, which includes a state-of-the-art facility that produced and distributed more than 750 league matches between the Championship and USL League One and more than 1,000 hours of original content to national partners, local affiliates and international markets throughout the 2019 season.

About ESPN - ESPN, the world’s leading sports entertainment enterprise, features more than 50 assets – eight  U.S. television networks, direct-to-consumer ESPN+, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN International, ESPN The Magazine and more. ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc. (an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) and 20 percent by Hearst.
 
About ESPN+ - ESPN+ is the leading direct-to-consumer sports streaming service from Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN. Launched in April 2018, ESPN+ has grown quickly to 3.5 million subscribers in 18 months, offering fans thousands of live events, original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks, as well as premium editorial content. 
 
Programming on ESPN+ includes exclusive UFC and Top Rank boxing events, thousands of college sports events (including football and basketball) from more than a dozen sports at 20 conferences, hundreds of MLB and NHL games, top domestic and international soccer (Serie A, MLS, FA Cup, Bundesliga - beginning in 2020, EFL Championship and Carabao Cup, Eredivisie), Grand Slam tennis, international and domestic rugby and cricket, exclusive ESPN+ Original series, acclaimed studio shows and the full library of ESPN’s award-winning 30 for 30 films.
 
Fans subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) through the ESPN App, (on mobile and connected devices), ESPN.com or ESPNplus.com. It is also available as part of a bundle offer that gives subscribers access to Disney+, Hulu (ad-supported), and ESPN+ ­— all for just $12.99/month.

 

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