ITV nets football contract

UK commercial broadcaster ITV will air top football matches from the UEFA Europa League after securing a new three-year deal with the tournament.

The agreement will see ITV replace Channel 5 as Europa League’s free-TV broadcaster in the UK. ITV will air the first and second pick matches in each round from 2012/13 to 2014/15 and a highlights programme.

The action will primarily be shown on diginet ITV4 and online at ITV.com, though fixtures could be moved to terrestrial net ITV1 if UK teams progress to the quarter finals.

In addition, pay-TV sports network ESPN will air at least two live matches a week from the fixtures not taken by ITV. ESPN has shown the Europa League for the past two seasons, as well as this season.

ITV has a strong relationship with UEFA, with a long history of broadcasting the Champions League on ITV. The channel secured rights to air matches from that tournament until 2015 earlier this year.

Earlier this year, Angela Jain, ITV’s new director of digital channels, said she planned to “reposition and refocus” ITV4 with more sports programming. The channel also shows the Tour de France and cricket from the Indian Premier League.