NEW YORK: UEFA has announced that ESPN International has been awarded the exclusive Pay and Terrestrial TV rights for the UEFA Champions League in North America. The broadcaster has also been given Pay TV rights in Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania, for the next three seasons.

The deal was concluded after a lengthy sales process conducted by UEFA’s marketing partner TEAM.

An official release informed that ESPN International is the incumbent rights holder and a much-valued partner of UEFA, ensuring wide coverage of the UEFA Champions League in over 100 million homes across its regions.

ESPN’s range of sublicensing deals with regional satellite and cable companies in North America will ensure that the UEFA Champions League will be broadcast more widely and effectively, among the varying ethnic communities.

For the first time, ESPN will start a UEFA Champions League service in Spanish in North America on the soon to be launched 'ESPN Deportes'.

The release stated that further to this deal the UEFA Champions League can now be seen in over 200 countries. UEFA CEO Gerhard Aigner said, "The renewal of our partnership with ESPN for the next three UEFA Champions League seasons is of vital strategic importance to European football and the UEFA Champions League brand. We aim at continuing the diffusion of top quality European matches across North America, Latin America and the Pacific Rim."