ESPN, which has acquired rights to broadcast live English Premier League (EPL) matches in the UK, has struck a deal to air its first channel on Freeview.
ESPN America will be broadcast on Freeview's pay-TV Top Up TV on a channel previously occupied by the collapsed Irish firm Setanta.
The American sports broadcaster is also expected to launch a high definition version of its proposed EPL-centric channel on Sky.
ESPN is believed to have paid about £250 million for rights to 46 games for the 2009/2010 season and 23 games each for the next three seasons.
Freeview's 9.9 million users from both free-to-air and pay-TV services will give ESPN the push needed to build up its subscriber base and recoup its EPL investment.
The sports broadcaster has also struck "interim" deals with Top Up TV, Sky and BT Vision, which, according to an ESPN spokesman, will ensure "US sports fans and existing subscribers to ESPN America can continue to watch the channel while we make permanent arrangements".
Through a separate multimillion-pound deal, Sky Media will handle ad sales on the EPL sports channel for every EPL game broadcast in the UK.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
