Euro '08 Is Big Event For ESPN

• Associated Press, Thursday, June 5, 2008 2:45 PM

What was for many years an event seen by only a handful of Americans on pay-per-view television will be available in its entirety on the ESPN family of networks. As part of its expanded commitment to soccer, the ESPN networks will broadcast all 31 European Championship matches, beginning Saturday and going through June 29 when the title game will be broadcast on ABC.

"For ESPN, it's important in that Euro itself is a marquee, world-class event that we certainly want to be associated with bringing that to fans," said Scott Guglielmino, vice president for programming and acquisitions. ESPN also has the rights to the men's and women's World Cups through 2014 and covers MLS.

Like the 2006 World Cup, the Euro 2008 games will air in the morning and afternoon in the United States. Besides English-language TV coverage, games will also air in Spanish on ESPN Deportes. "The U.S. population, the way it is now and going forward, soccer from our perspective is going to become incredibly more important to a diverse audience," Guglielmino said.

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