Pay TV sports network ONE World Sports said it has secured season-long rights for delayed soccer matches of English Premier League powerhouse Arsenal FC along with exclusive player and manager interviews.
The deal follows similar agreements between the global sports network and German soccer team FC Bayern Munich and English powerhouse Chelsea FC. ONE World Sports has acquired all North American rights to the three teams’ programming and will include these telecasts in a soon-to-be-debuted mobile app. YES Network previously had rights to Arsenal delayed-game telecasts and two magazine shows. After three seasons, that pact expired.
Arsenal has won 13 titles in the Premier League and the predecessor First Division, as well as 10 FA Cups. As a top-four finisher in the Premier League last season, it again will play games in the pan-European UEFA Champions League. The Arsenal, Chelsea and Bayern Munich coverage will debut on ONE World in mid-August, when league play resumes; ONE World Sports also will feature games from the teams’ cup competitions and Champions League battles.
ONE World also will present three-hour blocks of delayed gamecasts accompanied by interviews, features and analysis, involving leading players and team managers for each club before and after the games. The exclusive Arsenal programming block is scheduled to air on Sunday nights, starting at 9 p.m. (ET). Chelsea and Bayern Munich programming will be telecast on Monday and Tuesday nights, respectively.
The new deals add about 400 hours of content from the three clubs. ONE World Sports also will continue to provide soccer coverage from top leagues in the Asia/Pacific region and programming from other top sports worldwide.
The network recently announced a deal to carry all seven home games this season from the newly rebooted New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League.
“Arsenal is a world-renowned soccer club with a huge global following,” Alexander “Sandy” Brown, CEO of ONE World Sports, said in a release. “By adding this exciting soccer action to ONE World Sports, we continue to build our portfolio of soccer from some of the most accomplished clubs that the world has to offer.”
