Sony Electronics has extended its sponsorship of ESPN's 3D for another year, supporting a number of events.
Sony, which was the network's first official sponsor, will sponsor the network's 3D productions of the upcoming Summer X Games, as well as regular college football action. Financial terms of the pact were not disclosed.
The network -- kicking off with coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on June 11, 2010 before transitioning to a 24/7 service this past Valentine's Day -- has benefited from Sony's equipment and sponsorship of a number of events during its rookie campaign. To date, ESPN 3D has presented 115 events in the advance format.
Sony officials didn't return a request for comment whether the new deal represented a retrenchment relative to its sponsorship support of the service.
As was the case during the network's first year, ESPN 3D official said the network remains open to other sponsorship support.
"We are excited to extend our partnership with ESPN and continue to deliver sports in 3D to consumer homes," said Stuart Redsun, senior vice president of marketing at Sony Electronics, in a statement. "We've signed on to do the X Games as well as an expanded college football schedule, where ESPN will utilize Sony professional 3D cameras to bring consumers the best in live sports."
Noted Ed Erhardt, president, ESPN Customer Marketing and Sales: "Working with companies like Sony on such leading-edge technologies as 3D gives us the ability to deliver a whole new experience to sports fans. We're doubling the number of college football games on the network this fall, which was made possible by our strategic relationship with Sony."
