Real Salt Lake secures local rights deal

North American Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake has signed a multi-year local rights deal with US television broadcasting company Sinclair Broadcasting Group.

Under the deal, Sinclair Broadcasting’s KMYU Utah-based channel will broadcast live coverage of 26 regular-season games during the 2015 season. KYMU will also broadcast a weekly sports programme devoted to the team.

Up to six of the team’s pre-season matches will also be streamed via the KMYU.tv website.

KMYU can be accessed via the MyNetworkTV television broadcast syndication service and the ThisTV digital broadcast television network.

KUTV, another virtual channel owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, will promote the team via its television and online platforms. KUTV is also accessible through MyNetworkTV and ThisTV.

The deal will cover more than just local games, with Sinclair’s American Sports Network to produce and broadcast games on Sinclair affiliate stations in Las Vegas, Boise and Reno. Additional deals with stations in Albuquerque, Phoenix and Tucson are currently pending approval.

Games will appear on the agreed stations in three-hour broadcast windows, comprising a half-hour pre-game programme, a two-hour game telecast and a half-hour postgame show.