
NEW YORK (October 5, 2015) – Major League Soccer (MLS) announced today it has partnered with leading sports broadcaster FOX Sports Latin America to televise live league matches in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, with the exception of Brazil. With this newest partnership, MLS – in its 20thseason and just weeks away from the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs – will now be viewed in nearly 120 countries and territories around the world.
This groundbreaking partnership amplifies MLS’ exposure across the region in conjunction with the current MLS domestic U.S. rights agreements with ESPN and FOX Sports. MLS will also retain the rights to one game per week for free-to-air TV (FTA TV).
“This significant agreement with FOX Sports Latin America creates an opportunity for MLS to reach millions of passionate soccer fans on one of the premier sports networks in Latin America,” said Gary Stevenson, President and Managing Director, MLS Business Ventures. “With recent signings of top players from Latin America and the world, interest in MLS is higher than ever and this partnership will bring fans closer to stars, like Giovani Dos Santos, Kaká, Clint Dempsey and Sebastian Giovinco every week.”
"MLS has seen remarkable international growth and we are excited to have this top quality league with its highly competitive teams and world-class players as part of FOX Sports’ strong international soccer portfolio. FOX Sports will bring MLS matches to millions of fans in the region through our vast network of programming services, including our digital platform, FOX Play. Furthermore, this agreement makes FOX Sports the channel with the most MLS games in Latin America, and to celebrate that, we are putting together a special coverage plan with new special productions,” said Francisco Pazmiño, SVP Programming and Acquisitions for Fox Sports Latin America.
FOX Sports Latin America, which televises a wide variety of top international soccer competitions and is an influential Latin American sports network with its renowned editorial programming, will be a consistent destination for MLS fans in the region, where they will be able to follow the magic of MLS stars like LA Galaxy Mexican forward Giovani Dos Santos, Orlando City SC Brazilian Midfielder Kaká, LA Galaxy Irish forward Robbie Keane, New York City FC English midfielder Frank Lampard and Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo, Spanish striker David Villa also from New York City FC and Montreal Impact Argentine playmaker Ignacio Piatti playing with Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba, to name a few, will be featured live.
The FOX Sports Latin America partnership comes on the heels of landmark broadcast agreements signed earlier this year with Sky Sports in the UK, Globosat in Brazil, Abu Dhabi Media in the Middle East and North Africa, Letv Sports in mainland China, beIN SPORTS across Southeast Asia and Australia, and pan-European broadcaster Eurosport, as part of MLS’ continued focus to bring the league to more fans around the world and grow as a global media property.