ESPN’s UEFA European Championship 2008 Schedule

All soccer matches live and in High Definition; 29 Matches Simulcast live on ESPN360.com; All Matches on ESPN Deportes

May 8, 2008 -- For the first time, ESPN, Inc., will present exclusive live coverage of the UEFA European Football Championship 2008 Saturday, June 7, through Sunday, June 29, from eight cities in Austria and Switzerland.

ESPN2, ESPN, ESPN Classic and ABC will combine to present all 31 matches live – five on ESPN Classic, 17 on ESPN2 and seven on ESPN. ABC will broadcast two matches – a quarterfinal contest on June 21 and the Euro 2008 title match Sunday, June 29 at 2:30 p.m. ET from the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna, Austria.

(The title match, part of an ABC soccer doubleheader, will be preceded by a Major League Soccer contest featuring the David Beckham-led LA Galaxy at DC United, beginning at 12 p.m.).

All Matches in HD

Euro 2008 matches will be available in high definition on ESPN HD, ABC HD and ESPN2 HD. The high definition telecasts will be offered as a simulcast of ESPN, ABC, and ESPN2’s European Football Championship coverage.

In addition, ESPN’s high definition services will feature Euro 2008 studio programming including the pre-match, halftime and post-match segments.

ESPN360.com

ESPN’s signature broadband network will provide live online simulcasts of the 29 ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic matches of the UEFA Euro 2008 from June 7- 29.

ESPN360.com, which has become one of the premier broadband destinations for live soccer events with the additional acquisitions of Italian soccer (Serie A, Coppa Italia), UEFA Cup, Russian Premier League, Chinese Premiere League, et al., will also feature Euro 2008 Studio Updates, the live pre-, halftime and post-game segments.

ESPN Deportes

ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s domestic Spanish-language network, will be the exclusive Spanish-language television home of UEFA European Football Championship 2008 in the United States. The network will present a distinct and separate coverage of 31 matches. ESPN Deportes will air 25 matches live, and on days with concurrent matches (June 15-18), it will feature one match live per day with the second on tape delay. The two ABC matches will be aired via tape delay on ESPN Deportes.

In addition to its pre-game, halftime and post-game segments, ESPN Deportes will also present a daily, one-hour Euro 2008 studio program throughout the competition.

Euro 2008 Studio Update

ESPN’s English-language coverage of Euro 2008 will include live presentation of Euro 2008 Studio Update – the pre-, halftime and post-game studio news, highlights and analysis program. Additionally, ESPN will present eight live editions of Euro 2008 Studio Update shows between matches on select days.

ESPN Classic

In addition to five Euro 2008 match telecasts, ESPN Classic will present a nightly, 30-minute program featuring highlights and analysis of the day’s action throughout the tournament.

Each weeknight leading up to the tournament, ESPN Classic will air one title match from the previous nine UEFA European Football Championships beginning Monday, May 26 at 7 p.m., with 1972’s finals (Germany 3 – USSR 0) and concluding Thursday, June 5, with the 2004 finals (Greece 1 – Portugal 0).

The Event

With 10 of the 16 teams in Europe’s quadrennial soccer championship ranked among the top 15 teams in the FIFA World Rankings, the UEFA European Football Championship is one of the most prestigious and competitive tournaments among national soccer teams.

Teams representing the 16 nations compete in the Championship. Of these, 14 earned a spot in the finals following a two-year qualification process among 50 UEFA member nations while the host nations – Austria and Switzerland – received automatic berths.

Since its inception in 1960, the competition is held every four years. Greece won the last Championship – UEFA Euro 2004 – hosted by Portugal.

EURO 2008 TEAM GROUPINGS

Group A Group B Group C Group D

1 Czech Republic - #6 1 Austria - #101 1 France - #7 1 Greece - #8

2 Portugal - #9 2 Croatia - #13 2 Italy - #3 2 Russia - #25

3 Switzerland - #48 3 Germany - #5 3 Netherlands - #10 3 Spain - #4

4 Turkey - #25 4 Poland - #27 4 Romania - #12 4 Sweden - #23

#: Current FIFA World Ranking

EURO 2008 TV SCHEDULE – ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPN Classic and ESPN Deportes

u All times EASTERN u Schedule is subject to change

u ABC broadcasts in italics

Date Time (ET) Networks Match Group Site #-match
Round Robin Phase

Sa 6/07 11:50 a.m. EC/ED/360 Switzerland vs. Czech Republic A Basel 1

2:30 p.m. EC/ED/360 Portugal vs. Turkey A Geneva 2

Su 6/08 11:50 a.m. E2/ED/360 Austria vs. Croatia B Vienna 3

2:30 p.m. E2/ED/360 Germany vs. Poland B Klagenfurt 4

Mo 6/09 11:50 a.m. E2/ED/360 Romania vs. France C Zurich 5

2:30 p.m. E2/ED/360 Netherlands vs. Italy C Berne 6

Tu 6/10 11:50 a.m. E2/ED/360 Spain vs. Russia D Innsbruck 7

2:30 p.m. E2/ED/360 Greece vs. Sweden D Salzburg 8

We 6/11 11:50 a.m. E2/ED/360 Czech Republic vs. Portugal A Geneva 9

2:30 p.m. E2/ED/360 Switzerland vs. Turkey A Basel 10

Th 6/12 11:50 a.m. E2/ED/360 Croatia vs. Germany B Klagenfurt 11

2:30 p.m. E2/ED/360 Austria vs. Poland B Vienna 12
Fr 6/13 11:50 a.m. E2/ED/360 Italy vs. Romania C Zurich 13

2:30 p.m. E2/ED/360 Netherlands vs. France C Berne 14

Sa 6/14 11:50 a.m. E2/ED/360 Sweden vs. Spain D Innsbruck 15

2:30 p.m. E2/ED/360 Greece vs. Russia D Salzburg 16

Su 6/15 2:30 p.m. E2/ED/360 Switzerland vs. Portugal A Basel 17

2:30 p.m. EC/360 Turkey vs. Czech Republic A Geneva 18

5 p.m. ED Turkey vs. Czech Republic

Mo 6/16 2:30 p.m. EC/360 Poland vs. Croatia B Klagenfurt 19

2:30 p.m. E1/ED/360 Austria vs. Germany B Vienna 20

5 p.m. ED Poland vs. Croatia

Tu 6/17 2:30 p.m. EC/360 Netherlands vs. Romania C Berne 21

2:30 p.m. E1/ED/360 France vs. Italy C Zurich 22

5 p.m. ED Netherlands vs. Romania

We 6/18 2:30 p.m. E1/ED/360 Greece vs. Spain D Salzburg 23

2:30 p.m. E2/360 Russia vs. Sweden D Innsbruck 24

7 p.m. ED Russia vs. Sweden

Date Time (ET) Network Match #-match Site
Quarterfinals Stage

Th 6/19 2:30 p.m. E1/ED/360 1st Group A vs. 2nd Group B 25 Basel

Fr 6/20 2:30 p.m. E1/ED/360 1st Group B vs. 2nd Group A 26 Vienna

Sa 6/21 2:30 p.m. ABC 1st Group C vs. 2nd Group D 27 Basel

Su 6/22 2:55 p.m. E1/ED/360 1st Group D vs. 2nd Group C 28 Vienna

Date Time (ET) Network Match #-match Site

Semifinals Stage

We 6/25 2:30 p.m. E1/ED/360 Winners - 25 vs. 26 29 Basel

Th 6/26 2:30 p.m. E2/ED/360 Winners - 27 vs. 28 30 Vienna

World Cup Final on ABC

Su 6/29 2:30 p.m. ABC Euro 2008 Title Match 31 Vienna

Winners - 29 vs. 30

EC – ESPN Classic
E2 – ESPN2
E1 – ESPN
ED – ESPN Deportes
360 – ESPN360.com

Soccer on ESPN Inc.

ESPN and ABC are the U.S. English-language television homes of the Men’s and Women’s FIFA World Cup events through 2014, as ESPN acquired the rights for exclusive English-language telecasts of the FIFA World Cup™ and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the United States in 2005, as well as the rights to the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2009 and 2013 and other events. In addition, ESPN provides extensive coverage of the UEFA Champions League and the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships. With its acquisitions of the MLS and U.S. Soccer rights through 2014 in August 2006, and multimedia rights to the UEFA European Football Championship 2008 (Euro 2008) in December 2006, ESPN continues to offer the most comprehensive coverage of the world’s premier soccer events in the United States of America.

Source: ESPN

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