ufc on espn - its official

cmb. · 30-07-2009 4:43pm #1

i know this is being discussed on the 101 thread but i think it deserves its own - here is the news from fightersonly:

ESPN has officially announced that it will broadcast UFC programming in the UK, starting with UFC 101.

The ESPN UK channel will launch on Monday August 3rd on Sky Channel 417 and in High Definition on Sky Channel 443.

UFC UK Division President Marshall Zelaznik said: “We are ecstatic to announce that ESPN is the new home of the UFC in the UK and Ireland. ESPN is one of the most trusted and respected brands in all of sports broadcasting, and we are thrilled to be working with them as they launch their new channel in the UK and Ireland.

“Over the last three years, the UFC has become as big a part of the sporting landscape in the British Isles as football and rugby, and for the worldwide leader in sports broadcasting came to us and we were able to reach an agreement so quickly is another testament that the UFC is an important part of the British sporting calendar.”

“ESPN’s aim is to serve UK and Ireland sports fans by bringing the very best of both domestic and international live sport to their living rooms. We are delighted to add UFC… to our growing portfolio of live sport,” said Jeroen Oerlemans, ESPN’s Vice President, TV Channels Europe, Middle East and Africa.

ESPN launches August 3 on both the Sky and Virgin platforms in the UK and Ireland and, for the first month is FREE to all viewers, meaning everyone with Sky or Virgin can watch both UFC 101 and UFC 102 free of charge.

Sky Sports viewers can subscribe to ESPN for £9 per month, and viewers without Sky Sports can subscribe for £11. For more information contact your cable or satellite provider or visit www.sky.com/espn.

In addition to all live UFC events from around the world, ESPN will also screen UFC Unleashed every Thursday at 10pm, allowing fans to relive the greatest fights in UFC history.

UFC 101: Declaration takes place on Saturday 8th August and features the UFC Lightweight Title bout between BJ Penn and number one contender Kenny Florian as well as pound-for-pounder Anderson Silva stepping up to face light heavyweight Forrest Griffin.

On August 29th, legendary heavyweights Randy “The Natural” Couture and Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira meet in the main event of UFC 102. That event is followed by a UFC Fight Night on September 16th, headlined by Nate Diaz’s lightweight clash with Melvin Guillard.

These will be the first three UFC events broadcast by ESPN to UK viewers.

calex71 · 30-07-2009 5:38pm

We'll have to wait and see how NTL subscribers do, cant imagine them not picking it up though as they have sky sports on NTL.

Mossy Monk · 30-07-2009 5:45pm

It would be rather foolish of them not to get it on their platform.

cmb. · 30-07-2009 5:58pm

as i recall, one of the reasons for going with setanta over sky was them agreeing to have ultimate talk show - i am guessing that they want something similar here but i would like to see mma live on the channel as the program is already their for them costing nothing, it is heavily focued on the ufc and has a familiar co-host in florian so it would be a great fit

also, with a bit of luck we might see belator - another espn production so all it takes is a willingness to put in on the channel

heres hoping (not to mention wec at some stage - a webcast is something but i dont get why its not on the tv over here yet)

GSPfan · 30-07-2009 5:58pm

Lets see what price they give it to us in EURO considering £9 is €10.54.

If we get ESPN for that price then I'll be happy with that.

cmb. · 30-07-2009 6:03pm

there was talk on here about it being 12 euro but i dont know where that figure is from - considering it was 22 euro for setanta from sky it is bound to be less - though they did have decent boxing coverage and the fantastic bunces boxing hour

Wexler12 · 30-07-2009 6:39pm

Anybody know about chorus viewers?

Mossy Monk · 30-07-2009 6:58pm

Chorus and NTL are the same company. No announcement about them as of yet.

Jaysoose · 31-07-2009 9:20am

No doubt NTL will gouge the shiit out of us and charge something silly like €20 to make up for the setanta losses.

That is if they even know whats going on.

chordtype · 31-07-2009 3:35pm

I rang sky yesterday to get rid of a few channels and when I asked the guy about getting the new ESPN channel he said it was only available in the UK. Weird.

davmol · 31-07-2009 3:58pm

ESPN is already on channel 417 only its called ESPN america,whether it switches to ESPN UK or not remains to be seen but according to the article above it should change on monday.Id say yer man you were talking to was talking out of his ass...or maybe I am,we'll see on monday!

Mossy Monk · 31-07-2009 4:14pm

chordtype wrote: »

I rang sky yesterday to get rid of a few channels and when I asked the guy about getting the new ESPN channel he said it was only available in the UK. Weird.

He is full of ****. You can order ESPN right now on the Irish Sky site.

davmol wrote: »

ESPN is already on channel 417 only its called ESPN america,whether it switches to ESPN UK or not remains to be seen but according to the article above it should change on monday.Id say yer man you were talking to was talking out of his ass...or maybe I am,we'll see on monday!

ESPN America it turns out is going nowhere. ESPN will be a seperate channel.

chordtype · 31-07-2009 8:51pm

Mossy Monk wrote: »

He is full of ****. You can order ESPN right now on the Irish Sky site.

I bet this wont be the last time that Sky customer service know nothing about their products.

Anybody know if Virgin 1 is gonna hold onto TUF? Would make sense to get it on a larger platform.

cmb. · 31-07-2009 9:49pm

chordtype wrote: »

Anybody know if Virgin 1 is gonna hold onto TUF? Would make sense to get it on a larger platform.

from gareth davies blog (from a conversation with zelanik)- who seems to have a good pipeline into the uk office:

Our ESPN deal this gives as UK and further worlwide credibility. We aren’t done yet. We are close to working out a deal for TUF which will give free access to our fans.” Sounds like great news. Watch this space…

gerrybbadd · 01-08-2009 2:33am

GSPfan wrote: »

Lets see what price they give it to us in EURO considering £9 is €10.54.

If we get ESPN for that price then I'll be happy with that.

I reckon they'll look for €15.00 and spout some sh*te about VAT rates!

Utopia Parkway · 01-08-2009 3:29am

calex71 wrote: »

We'll have to wait and see how NTL subscribers do, cant imagine them not picking it up though as they have sky sports on NTL.

Yeah waiting to see what this means for NTL or UPC subscribers or whatever they are called this week.

Mossy Monk · 01-08-2009 10:52am

€12 for Sky Sports subscribers, €16 for non Sky Sports subscribers.

stubell · 01-08-2009 10:53am

According to Sky's website:

€12 to add ESPN to your package, if you already have Sky Sports Pack
€16 to add ESPN to your package, if you do NOT already have Sky Sports Pack.

Decision time.......

(UPDATE: You beat me to the punch Mossy)

Turbo_diesel · 01-08-2009 10:59am

I take it if your already a sky customer best to wait to sign up for another month as the first month is free?

stubell · 01-08-2009 11:03am

Not sure that the 1st month is free on Sky. Think that might be on Virgin in the UK only.

Gdep · 01-08-2009 6:45pm

Chorus/Ntl are in negotiations with ESPN and are hoping to know by next week.

Turbo_diesel · 03-08-2009 10:50am

This is meant to launch on sky today anyone know what channel it is?

Mossy Monk · 03-08-2009 11:25am

417

Turbo_diesel · 03-08-2009 11:36am

Cheers just found that there looks they moved ESPN america from 417 this morning. When you click on the channel it asks you to call them to subscribe does the first month free not apply to Irish customers?

RNCFAN · 03-08-2009 12:34pm

I would ring NTL but I don't think I can face 20 minutes of .....

"Hello, and thanks for ringing Chorus NTL a UPC company"

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

Hate. NTL. Hate. NTL. Hate. NTL. Hate. NTL. Hate. NTL. Hate. NTL.

Mossy Monk · 03-08-2009 1:16pm

Turbo_diesel wrote: »

Cheers just found that there looks they moved ESPN america from 417 this morning. When you click on the channel it asks you to call them to subscribe does the first month free not apply to Irish customers?

It is supposed to be free for the first month?

GSPfan · 03-08-2009 2:00pm

ESPN america is on channel 430 now. I'm a bit worried that ESPN isn't free this month. We'll know later on at 8 o'clock when the first show comes on but I don't think it is.

From a business stand point they really shouldn't give it out free really cause I'll subscribe as soon as I can to get to see UFC.

Name Changed · 03-08-2009 7:35pm

Has ESPN anything to do with Setanta? The last time I rang Setanta, they told me ESPN would probably be showing the UFC and that if I kept Setanta, I'd still get the UFC as a result. I cancelled it anyway. What's the story though? Is ESPN just a separate thing completely?

GSPfan · 03-08-2009 9:03pm

Completely seperate. Don't know why they said that. But funnily enough the Setanta website still lists UFC as one of their sports. They may have a relationship with them but ESPN are Disney owned (80%).

Edit:
Just checked the Setanta Website and clicked into the UFC section and got an error message. So no UFC on Setanta.

Mossy Monk · 03-08-2009 9:39pm

There willd efinately be no UFC events on Setanta. ESPN own the rights for Ireland and the UK.

Turbo_diesel · 03-08-2009 9:55pm

Mossy Monk wrote: »

It is supposed to be free for the first month?

I take it I should just go & sign up now still adviseing of subription when I click on the channel?

ufc on espn - its official

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