ESPN to Broadcast First Ever Free Premier League Game in UK

To rack up interest in their sports channel, herbal ESPN UK will broadcast a Premier League match on freeview for the first time next week in the game between Manchester City and Fulham.

The top flight fixture will be screened by ESPN on February 4 as part of a marketing campaign to increase the awareness of its channels.

The game could potentially break the record for largest domestic television audience for a Premier League encounter with freeview estimated to be in 10m homes.

ESPN is broadcasting free from Friday to Monday on the first weekend in February and the taster will also feature live games from Serie A and the Bundesliga.

“This is a great opportunity for us to introduce that to millions more and let them sample the programming ESPN has on offer,” ESPN chief Jeroen Oerlemans said.

Since 1992, when Sky Sports first won a contract to show live action from the Premier League, fans have needed to pay subscriptions to watch top-flight football.