ESPN360.com Inks Two Italian Soccer Deals

Agreements for Serie A and Italian Cup Matches Adds to Lineup of Top Global Soccer

January 23, 2008 -- ESPN360.com, the signature broadband sports network from ESPN, has reached agreements to add two more of the world’s top International soccer competitions to its programming lineup – Italy’s Serie A (aka Serie A TIM) and Coppa Italia (aka TIM Cup, Italian Cup).

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ESPN360.com and InFront have reached an agreement for exclusive U.S. broadband rights to bring Italian soccer’s Serie A to U.S. soccer fans. The deal will bring four Serie A matches per weekend to ESPN360.com for the remainder of the 2007-2008 season. Additionally, the deal includes rights to deliver live coverage of the same matches on a non-exclusive basis across other versions of ESPN360 globally – including those in Mexico and Brazil. Matches are also available via pay-per-view via SerieA.tv.

Media Partners and ESPN360.com have reached an agreement to provide U.S. soccer fans with exclusive broadband coverage of all remaining Coppa Italia matches this year (matches have already begun) as well as the entire schedule for the next two seasons.

The two deals add to an already robust, and fast-growing, lineup of live broadband soccer coverage on ESPN360.com that includes UEFA Champions League, Euro 2008, UEFA Cup, FIFA World Cup and Women’s World Cup, CONCACAF, MLS, FIFA U-20 and Beach Soccer World Cup, UEFA U-19 and U-17 Championships, and several top invitational tournaments.

In the U.S., ESPN360.com is a 24/7 broadband sports network, delivering more than 2,500 live global sports events annually. The service offers a mosaic of screens that allow users to follow multiple events simultaneously, and expanded controls including live-event pause, rewind and fast forward. ESPN360.com is available at no additional charge to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection from an affiliated service provider. It has more than doubled its distribution since August 2006, and is available in approximately 20 million households nationwide via more than 20 Internet service providers around the country including AT&T, Verizon, RCN, Frontier, Cavalier, Charter, Mediacom, Conway, Grande Communications and more.

ESPN360.com also has versions of the service in Mexico and Brazil. In Brazil, ESPN360 (www.espn.com.br/360) and is currently available to more than three million sports fans via Terra. In Mexico, ESPN360.com is currently available via TelMex player Infinitum.

About Serie A

Serie A is the elite echelon of the Italian soccer league system, and widely regarded as one of the elite competitions of the global soccer landscape. With a season that runs from August to May, each of the 20 clubs plays each others twice (home and away) totaling 38 matches for each team by the end of the season. Teams receive three points for a win, one point for a draw and no for a loss. It has produced the highest number of European Cup finalists, with Serie A clubs reaching the final of the competition on a record of twenty-five different occasions, winning the title eleven times, and hosts some of the world's most renowned clubs.

About Coppa Italia

Coppa Italia is an annual Italian soccer competition, dating back to 1922. It features competition between the 42 teams that play in Serie A and Serie B, and features three distinct phases of competition. The First Phase is comprised of two rounds, with the first round pairing the bottom 24 seeds (19-42) and the second round pairing the 12 first round winners. The Second Phase pairs the six winners from First Phase and the clubs seeded 9-18 overall. The Third phase: features the Round of 16 that is comprised of the top eight overall seeds (1-8) and the eight second phase winners. Follow the Third Phase there are Quarterfinals and Semifinals -- two-game fixtures with pairings based upon a bracket. The final is played at a neutral site.

Source: ESPN