ESPN Wins Rights to Barcelona, Man United U.S. Summer Tour
A new DirecTV-sponsored summer soccer showcase—featuring the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona—is barnstorming the U.S. beginning this weekend, and ESPN has signed on as the event’s media partner.
Soccer Champions Tour, the brainchild of the investment firm Sixth Street, kicks off Saturday, July 22, on ESPN+, with a match between Barcelona and the Italian Serie A squad Juventus. The Tour, which features six of the world’s 15 most valuable soccer franchises, will descend on a number of high-profile sports venues, including Levi’s Stadium, the Rose Bowl, SoFi Stadium and AT&T Stadium.
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DirecTV is the presenting sponsor of the eight-match tour, and through its commercial licensing partnership with ESPN+, the satcaster also will have a hand in distributing the action to bars, restaurants and other out-of-home establishments. Six of the matches will be carried exclusively on ESPN, while two others—Sunday’s AC Milan vs. Real Madrid matchup in Pasadena and a Tuesday, Aug. 1 meeting between Milan and Barcelona—will air on ESPN’s linear TV networks.
The hybrid streaming-TV structure allows subscribers “the flexibility of watching all the action either at home or at their favorite soccer bar that subscribes to ESPN+ for Business,” Vince Torres, chief marketing officer of DirecTV, said. In addition to the dual distribution scheme, each match will be presented in English- and Spanish-language formats.
Manchester United foil Arsenal is the tour’s sixth participating club, which together boast a net worth of $22.7 billion. The world’s three most valuable soccer franchises—Man U, Real Madrid and Barcelona—are collectively worth $16.1 billion, accounting for 71% of the overall value represented by the new tour.
Sixth Street first announced the launch of Soccer Champions Tour in May, saying that the two-week event is designed to capitalize on the growing popularity of top-flight European soccer in the U.S. Looking down the road, the 2024 Tour will be expanded to include the world’s best women’s clubs.
“We created this series to bring the best soccer in the world to communities across the U.S, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with the Worldwide Leader [ESPN] so fans can experience the games at home, too,” a spokesperson for Sixth Street said in a statement. Sixth Street is also an investor in the Madrid and Barcelona clubs.
While it shares a common name with last year’s AEG-backed traveling soccer expo, Soccer Champions Tour is wholly independent from its precursor. The friendly between Madrid and Barcelona was the most-watched stop on the 2022 tour, averaging 173,000 viewers on FS2.
Soccer Champions Tour will culminate in a primetime Juventus vs. Real Madrid showdown on Wednesday, Aug. 2, from Orlando’s Camping World Stadium. The new venture bows at a particularly frenzied moment for international soccer, as the July 26 doubleheader (Real Madrid vs. Man U, Arsenal vs. Barcelona) will air opposite Fox’s coverage of the U.S.-Netherlands Women’s World Cup match. That said, the tour won’t have to compete with Messi’s MLS debut this Friday, a Leagues Cup match between Inter Miami and the Liga MX side Cruz Azul.
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