CWC to air EPL games via ESPN

C&W Communications, the operators of Flow, Flow Business, C&W Business, and BTC, will once again air the world’s most popular domestic football tournament, the English Premier League, via the rights holders for the current season.

A press release from CWC on Monday stated that the broadcast of the 2024/25 season would be carried across the Caribbean via ESPN and ESPN 2.

The 38-game season began on August 17, three months after Manchester City lifted the 2023-24 title. The season will run through May 25, 2025.

In August, previous rights-holders VertiCast Media announced that their contract as rights holder had ended prematurely. VertiCast had distributed games via CSport.tv and the CSport app from 2022, and their contract was originally intended to run until 2025.

CWC and Digicel Group had held the rights from 2019 to 2022, through a joint venture, Caribbean Premier Sports Limited (CPSL).

In 2015, CWC declared its intention to broadcast live matches across 32 Caribbean countries via Flow Sports. CWC was also awarded the mobile clip rights, allowing fans to follow the latest goals and action from the world’s best football league on any mobile device.

This year, per CWC, football fans will be treated to even more action with the launch of a dedicated channel, ESPN Extra, which will feature approximately six live ‘prime’ matches per round, pre- and post-match studio shows, rebroadcasts of games, press conferences, fantasy football segments, archive matches, and other magazine-style programming.

In addition to ESPN Extra, live Premier League matches will also be aired on the existing ESPN Caribbean and ESPN 2 channels. Depending on the scheduling, matches may air simultaneously across these platforms. 

As a special bonus, all television customers will enjoy a ‘freeview’ of the ESPN Extra channel until September 15. Following the freeview period, customers will have the opportunity to subscribe directly to the ESPN Extra channel.

“We are thrilled to offer football fans across the Caribbean unprecedented access to one of the world’s most popular sports leagues. 

“With ESPN Extra and the enhanced coverage across ESPN and ESPN 2, our customers will have front-row seats to experience the absolute best of the Premier League, right from their homes,” said Inge Smidts, Chief Executive Officer, C&W Communications. 

“This is more than just sports; as we did this summer with the World Relays in The Bahamas and the recent Men’s ICC T20 World Cup, it’s about delivering an unparalleled entertainment experience and ensuring that fans across the Caribbean never miss a moment of the action.”

ESPN Extra is available to television subscribers in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Turks & Caicos Islands.  

(PR/TF)

Editor’s note: Corrections were made to the original story to accurately reflect that C&W Communications, the operators of Flow, Flow Business and C&W Business, has not reclaimed the broadcasting rights for the English Premier League (EPL). ESPN is the rights holder for the EPL, and the games are available on the distribution platforms that carry ESPN, including both Flow and Digicel, for those television customers who subscribe to ESPN.