FreeSports, a new multi-sports television channel operated by the team behind Premier Sports is launching this Thursday, August 31, in the UK.
FreeSports will initially reach over 18 million of the 26 million UK homes and become the only free-to-air sports channel available on Freeview, TalkTalk and BT. It will also broadcast free-to-air on DTH satellite, on Sky and FreeSat.
The channel is in partnership with global sports management agencies IMG, Infront, Lagardère, MP Silva, and Pitch with Sky Media managing advertising.
FreeSports will deliver over 1,000 live events every year and give over 10 million UK homes access to a 24/7 sports channel for the first time.
FreeSports will have up to ten live football games per week with exclusive coverage of the Portuguese Primeira League, Belgian Pro League, Superliga Argentina, Spanish La Liga 2 and Airtricity League. Full match coverage will be included as part of Barca TV, Bayern TV, AC Milan TV and Borussia Dortmund TV. Coverage on opening weekend also includes England U21 opening Euro qualifier against the Netherlands.
“We are super excited to be launching this new free-to-air sports channel which marks a first for our business and a first in the UK TV market,” commented Richard Sweeney, general manager of FreeSports.
“We believe our new service will be welcomed and enjoyed by UK consumers, many of whom don’t have access to a dedicated live sports channel. This is also a game changer and massive opportunity for UK sports organisations to showcase and grow their leagues by having live coverage reach over 85% of homes via FreeSports, a reach that no other sports channel can come close to. ”