Sky New Zealand renews long-term partnership with ESPN

Sky New Zealand has announced that it has renewed its partnership with global sports brand ESPN, securing a multi-year, multi-platform rights deal.

ESPN provides live sport and sports programming from the United States and around the world, including NFL (and the Super Bowl), NBA basketball, NHL, MLB, UFC, NCAA basketball, NCAA football, the US Open, and the Peabody and Emmy Award winning 30 for 30 film series.

Through the deal, Sky will continue to deliver its customers two ESPN channels on Sky Sport and streamed on Sky Sport Now and Sky Go. The partnership also gives Sky and Sky Sport Now customers access to a range of Video On Demand content from ESPNews, ESPNU, ACC Network and SEC Network as well as the Watch ESPN app.

Sky chief executive Sophie Moloney says: “Our goal is to connect our customers with the sport and entertainment they love, in the ways that work for them, wherever they are in New Zealand.

“We know from our customer research and viewership data that ESPN is a well-loved part of Sky’s sport offering, and we are pleased to secure these rights for our customers. Our research shows ESPN content is particularly appealing to younger sports fans (under 45 years old) and we look forward to continuing to work with our partner ESPN to deliver an awesome sport line-up to our customers.”

Kylie Watson-Wheeler, senior vice president & managing director, The Walt Disney Company Australia & New Zealand & Head of ESPN/National Geographic, APAC says “we are thrilled to announce a new long-term partnership with Sky, and I am delighted that we can continue to grow our longstanding relationship between the two companies.”

“Over the past year we’ve witnessed some iconic sporting moments on ESPN, from Tom Brady leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl triumph, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers claiming the NBA championship, and New Zealand’s Israel Adesanya, Dan Hooker and Kai Kara France flying the flag proudly in the UFC.”

ESPN Australia New Zealand general manager Haydn Arndt says “Sky customers will enjoy an increased slate of ESPN programming, with our award winning 30 for 30 series, and flagship studio programming, complementing our package of premier live sport.”

“This is strengthened by our recently enhanced long-term deals with the NFL and NHL, as well as the NBA, MLB and UFC, among others.”