NBCUniversal-owned pay-television channel USA Network will show a weekly match from football’s English Premier League throughout the forthcoming 2015-16 season.
USA Network will show its first match of the campaign when Everton hosts newly promoted Watford tomorrow (Saturday).
The USA Network coverage will run alongside a game during the same Saturday 10am ET slot on NBC Sports Network. For 2015-16, USA Network will televise more than 40 weekend Premier League games – most during the multi-match Saturday window.
The channel in recent years has lost all of the sports properties it broadcast and has focused on showing comedies and dramas, with the exception of broadcasting sports during the Olympic Games. However, NBCU has been seeking to push more sports onto USA Network, and this spring, for the first time in 30 years, the channel televised Stanley Cup Playoff games from the NHL ice hockey league.
“Bringing Premier League soccer to USA is a key part of our overall strategy to add more live programming to the network,” Chris McCumber, president of USA Network, said. “This is a great opportunity to help expand the platform for the top league in the world’s most popular sport.”