MLS and Sky Sports Seal Four-Year UK Broadcast Deal

Major League Soccer (MLS) have announced a four-year deal with British sports broadcaster Sky Sports to broadcast MLS matches live in the United Kingdom.

The deal represents Sky Sports’ first broadcast deal with the MLS which will begin this March with the kickoff of MLS’ 20^th season.

As part of the agreement, ed Sky Sports will broadcast at least two MLS regular season matches per week, as well as the AT&T MLS All-Star Game, all MLS Cup Playoff games and MLS Cup on the Sky platform of networks.

The UK-based broadcaster will also carry weekly MLS highlights across its various platforms, including Sky Sports News and SkySports.com.

Sky Sports has also committed to telecast at least one match from the newly created Decision Day – the recently announced format change for the final day of the MLS regular season where all Eastern Conference games will be played simultaneously followed by all Western Conference games, to determine the final spots for the MLS Cup Playoffs.

“As MLS continues to grow into a global brand, we are excited to partner with Sky Sports, a leader in the UK TV market, to bring the sport to millions of soccer fans,” said Gary Stevenson, President and Managing Director, MLS Business Ventures.

“2015 is a milestone year for MLS including new stars, new clubs and a new brand. Sky Sports will help continue to grow the League and clubs worldwide.”

Sky Sports Managing Director Barney Francis said: “Football in the U.S. and Canada has enormous potential for growth and we can’t wait to bring this competition to our viewers for the first time.

“Thierry Henry has joined us, he created fantastic memories in MLS, and we look forward to seeing more of those great stories from across the Atlantic.

“We are always looking to offer more choice and recently added football from Holland, Italy and UEFA European qualifiers; we are delighted to now add MLS to that list.”

Former England captain Steven Gerrard will be heading to the MLS to join the LA Galaxy in July, and ex-Chelsea star Frank Lampard will link up with New York City FC this summer.

The deal was brokered by MLS’ new global media rights agent, IMG.

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