Columbus Crew strikes regional rights deal

North American Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew has secured a local rights deal with US media company Sinclair Broadcast Group and domestic pay-television operator Time Warner Cable.

The ‘hybrid’ agreement will cover 31 regular-season games during the 2016 campaign.

Coverage of the matches will be available on Sinclair regional channels The CW Columbus, ABC-6, FOX-28 and MyTVColumbus, as well as Time Warner Cable’s SportsChannel cable-television channel.

Subscribers to the league’s MLS Direct Kick pay-television service or the MLS Live service on digital platforms will also have access to all regionally televised Crew games. The multi-platform deal does not include any territory restrictions.

The team’s remaining regular-season matches will be shown nationally by sports broadcaster ESPN or Fox Sports 1, which is operated by the Fox Sports division of US network Fox.