ONE World Sports Renews Deal for AFC Rights

ONE World Sports (OWS) has extended its contract for the exclusive North American rights to all Asian Confederation (AFC) events through 2016 under the terms of its agreement with World Sport Group (WSG).

The AFC is Asian football’s governing body with 46 Member Associations. It is one of six Confederations comprising the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). AFC’s premier event is the Asian Cup competition held every fourth year. This jewel in the crown event is one of the big three Continental cups along with the European nations Euro Cup and the South American nations Copa America. Japan presently holds the Asian Cup, having beaten Australia in the 2011 final with the Korean Republic placing third. The next Asian Cup is slated for 2015 in Australia.

In addition to the Asian Cup, OWS will multicast the AFC Champions League. The Champions League features Asia’s top club teams including Japan, China and the Korean Republic as they compete for the honor of becoming Asia’s Champion Club. OWS will also have the rights to the AFC’s qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Rio 2016 Olympic games.

James Clarke, Senior Vice President – Content, World Sport Group, added: “We are very pleased to have One World Sports join us as our North American broadcast partner. OWS have committed to show more matches from the AFC events than have ever been shown in the USA and Canada before, from a broad range of our competitions, including both the main national team competitions and the AFC Champions League. We greatly appreciate their support.”

Rick Jemison, Senior Vice President Programming, One World Sports, said: “We are excited about the extension of our exclusive rights to the AFC events through 2016. The extension guarantees that we will bring the 2015 Asian Cup, Asia’s top soccer match, as well as ongoing live coverage of AFC events to our North American audience. It’s part of our long-term commitment to deliver Asia’s best soccer events live on TV, broadband and mobile to U.S. sports fans.”