ESPN president John Skipper has said the US sports broadcaster is “on the precipice” of agreeing a new rights deal with Major League Soccer, the top division of football in North America.
ESPN currently serves as the main broadcast partner of MLS, alongside the NBC Sports division of media company NBCUniversal. These contracts are due to expire following the 2014 season.
Speaking at an event previewing ESPN’s coverage of the 2014 Fifa World Cup, Skipper said: “We’ve been telling people for six months now, I think, that we’re on the precipice of getting a deal, and we are on the precipice of getting a deal. It’s the longest I’ve ever been on a precipice, but we expect to be partners with Major League Soccer going forward.”
The 2014 World Cup will be the sixth straight edition of the national team tournament that ESPN has broadcast in the US, but is set to be the last for the foreseeable future.
The Fox Sports division of the Fox network has secured rights to Fifa competitions, including the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, in the United States from 2015 through 2022.
Skipper said ESPN has invited Fox executives to observe its production in Brazil for “a proper handoff,” with the broadcaster set to increase its original programming content from 250 hours for the 2010 World Cup to 290 hours for Brazil’s competition. ESPN will also stream every game online for the first time.
“I think the numbers are going to be up fairly dramatically,” Skipper added.