ESPN has acquired the US media rights to the FA Cup for the 2018/19 to 2020/21 seasons, a source confirmed to World Soccer Talk today.
As part of the rights deal, select FA Cup games will be streamed via the ESPN+ paid subscription service. The FA Cup rights were part of the deal that included the rights to Serie A, a story that we first reported in February after there was little interest in the FA Cup rights at the time.
All that changed on July 10 when Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus, thus spiking interest in the rights to Serie A and, by extension, the FA Cup.
In the end, ESPN paid approximately $55 million/year in a 3-year deal for the rights to broadcast Serie A and FA Cup as well as Eredivisie, Chinese Super League and A-League in the United States.
SEE MORE: Schedule of FA Cup games on US TV and streaming
The 2018–19 FA Cup will be the 138th edition of the oldest recognized football tournament in the world.
The third round of the FA Cup will commence on Friday, January 4.
In total, ESPN+ now streams the English Championship, Serie A, FA Cup, USL, League Cup, Chinese Super League, Eredivisie, A-League and out-of-market MLS games. ESPN+ also includes the daily ESPN FC soccer news and analysis show.
ESPN+ is $5.99/month.
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