Chelsea

Chelsea-Man City Community Shield finds a home in U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: After a huge amount of anticipation about who will broadcast this Sunday’s FA Community Shield between Chelsea and Manchester City, a decision has finally been reached.

In the United States, you’ll be able to watch Chelsea against Manchester City exclusively on the ESPN+ streaming service. The paid subscription service is available for $5.99 per month. No TV broadcast will be available.

Featuring the Premier League champion against the winner of the FA Cup, Sunday’s matchup between Manchester City and Chelsea will be the 96th FA Community Shield, and is traditionally seen as heralding the start of a new soccer season in England. The match will be beamed live from Wembley Stadium in London to viewers worldwide.

The match will kick off at 10am ET on Sunday, August 5.

SEE MORE: Schedule of Premier League games on US TV and streaming

Until today, there was plenty of fear, uncertainty and doubt whether the FA Community Shield would be shown at all in the United States. Ultimately, an agreement was made between The FA and ESPN to allow the American sports network to stream the game according to a spokesperson for IMG.

The spokesperson added that the agreement is a one-off and not part of a broader deal.

FOX Sports previously had the rights to the FA Community Shield, but the rights deal ended at the tail end of the 2017/18 season.

Certainly, the news that the FA Community Shield will be well received by not only Chelsea and Manchester City supporters nationwide, but by all neutral soccer fans nationwide looking forward to watching two of the most exciting teams in English football.

In the meantime, discussions about who will acquire the rights to both the Serie A and FA Cup for the 2018/19 season continue. No decision has been reached as of press time.

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