ABC/ESPN Get Soccer World Cup Rights; Major New Media Component

International scoccer body FIFA has awarded U.S. TV and new media rights rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups for a record $425 million, the largest contract for any single country and a more than 120 percent increase from the previous American deals.

ESPN/ABC will pay $100 million, while Spanish-language broadcaster Univision will pay $325 million. The contracts also include Internet, broadband and mobile rights, for both the networks.

For ESPN, it means the right to distribute all the content through its various new media channels:

– ESPN.com and ESPNSoccernet.com – Dedicated FIFA World Cup site featuring reports, columns, match previews, player profiles and real-time data;

– ESPN360 – ESPN’s broadband/on-demand service will offer live game simulcasts, in-game and post-match highlights, full and condensed match re-airs, team and player features, previews and other reports;

– Mobile ESPN and Mobile ESPN Publishing – ESPN’s recently announced mobile phone service and ESPN’s wireless content licensing business will offer in-game highlights and alerts, post-match highlights, gamecasts with real-time data and scoring updates.

For more details, including the history of these rights, read this Soccer Times story.

Related: Journalism Group Meets With Fifa Over Online Media Rights For World Cup ’06

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