FreeSports

FreeSports
Launched 31 August 2017
Owned by Premier Media S.à r.l.
Picture format 576i, 16:9 (SDTV)
Slogan Because sport is better free!
Sister channel(s) Premier Sports
Website FreeSports Website
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview HD Channel 95
Satellite
Freesat Channel 252
Sky (UK only) Channel 422
Astra 2E 11426 V 27500 5/6
Cable
Virgin Media Channel 553 (HD)
Streaming media
TVPlayer Watch live (UK only)

FreeSports is a channel operated and owned by Premier Media S.à r.l. It is a British sports channel operated in the United Kingdom. The channel launched on 31 August 2017.[1]

History

FreeSports launched on 31 August 2017, with its aim to provide free-to-air sports coverage and become a top three dedicated sports channel in the UK.[1][2] It is available on all major platforms available in 18 million UK homes. It is only available on Freeview HD, not standard Freeview.[3] The channel holds a partnership with rights holders IMG, MP & Silva, Lagardère Group, Pitch International and Infront Sports & Media.[1] It is a sister channel of Premier Sports.[4] FreeSports released a statement in February 2018 that it will be going HD on the Sky platform in Summer 2018, however as of September 2018 the channel is only available in standard definition.

The channel launched on Virgin Media channel 553 on 21 July 2018. A temporary duplicate launched on channel 130 on Virgin Media at midnight on 22 July 2018, a slot previously vacated by Alibi +1 prior to the UKTV channels' removals, until the network was restored on 11 August 2018. On 25 September 2018, the channel launched in high definition on Virgin Media.[2]

Coverage

FreeSports aim to be majority live with over 1000 events a year for an average of 10 hours per day showing numerous sports, including MMA, Kickboxing, boxing, association football, ice hockey, tennis, rugby league, rugby union basketball, and cricket.[1]

Combat sport

Football

The channel shows live coverage of the Primeira Liga (two games a week) & Segunda División (one game a week).[4] as well as numerous club TV shows, including Dortmund TV and AC Milan TV.[4] The first match shown live was a 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier between the Netherlands and England on 1 September.[5] The channel also plans to broadcast a wide range or pre World Cup 2018 friendlies and club pre-season friendlies featuring teams from the Premier League, Scottish Premiership and European clubs.

FreeSports currently shows weekly coverage of Copa do Brasil.

The channel also shows weekly highlights from the National League.[6]

Ice hockey

The National Hockey League fronts the channel's ice hockey coverage with three games a week. Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin made the announcement on the channel's Twitter account.[7] However, the first live coverage of Ice Hockey was between Nottingham Panthers and Mountfield HK in the 2017–18 Champions Hockey League.[8] As well as NHL and CHL, the IIHF and SHL will also be shown live, while the Spengler Cup semi-finals and final will also be screened.[1] The Ice Hockey World Championships are expected to be shown on FreeSports including live coverage of games featuring Great Britain.

In March 2018, it was announced that FreeSports would be televising the KHL Playoffs throughout March & April and later announced it had a 2 year extension to televise live KHL from the 2018-2019 season onwards.

On July 20, 2018, FreeSports and the EIHL struck a deal that will see a live game shown every two weeks which will also feature highlights, starting with the forthcoming 2018/19 campaign.[9]

Motorsport

NASCAR features on the channel and will be broadcasting live the Daytona 500 2018 for the first time on free to air television in the UK.[10] FreeSports also shows the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series showing live as well as highlights of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.[1] Also live on the channel are Australian V8 Supercars, Swedish and Polish Speedway. There will also be highlights of Monster Jam, Arenacross, Formula D and the FIA World Rallycross Championship.

Pool

In February 2018, The International Professional Pool Association (IPA), FreeSports Champions Cup (Blackball) was televised live on FreeSports over the course of three days and was won by Ben Davies. Following this, the IPA FreeSports Pool Cup began on 12 February 2018 with the aim of finding Britain’s best Blackball pool player.

Rugby league

The channel features delayed coverage of Toronto Wolfpack games in The Championship and, in conjunction with RugbyAM, live games from the National Conference League.[11] Last year the channel had covered the National Rugby League.[1] However the rights passed to Sky Sports for the 2018 season. The channel had also screened some games from the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

Rugby Union

FreeSports showed Autumn internationals including France & Italy matches and is currently showing live BUCS Rugby matches.

On 30 April 2018, Premier Sports announced they have signed a landmark partnership to broadcast every game from the Guinness PRO14 live in high-definition across the UK for at least the next three years, with no less than 21 games (one per round) shown live free-to-air on FreeSports.[12]

Other Sports

Twenty-five events from the ATP World Tour 250 series, FEI Nations Cup (show jumping), Liga Española de Baloncesto (Spanish basketball), Drone Champions League, World Weightlifting Championships, Crankworx World Tour.[1] Live coverage of major events in the French horse-racing calendar began with the meeting at Chantilly on 10 September 2017.

Previous coverage

MMA

Professional Fighters League (PFL); formerly the World Series of Fighting (WSOF)

Basketball

The British Basketball League (BBL) signed a deal with FreeSports in January 2018 to broadcast a number of games during the remainder of the 2017-2018 season.[13] The first game broadcast on the channel was the BBL Trophy Final between Worcester Wolves v Cheshire Phoenix. Other live Spanish basketball on the channel is ACB Basketball from the Copa Del Rey series.

Cricket

The channel broadcast live coverage of the 2017 Bangladesh Premier League tournament.

Pro Wrestling

5 Star Wrestling was broadcast live on FreeSports from January to March 2018 featuring an array of British and American wrestling talent. During the first twelve shows in the UK wide arena tour, many high profile wrestlers were on the roster including Rob Van Dam, Rey Mysterio, Zack Gibson, John Morrison, Jack Hager, Adam Maxted, Carlito, Chris Masters and Eddie Ryan.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "About FreeSports". FreeSports. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "New Channels - Virgin Media Community". Virgin Media Community. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  3. ↑ "Cage Warriors hits free-to-air UK TV with FreeSports partnership". Cage Warriors. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  4. 1 2 "FreeSports Football". Twitter. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  5. ↑ "FreeSports Football". Twitter. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  6. ↑ FreeSports launches Football National League Highlights
  7. ↑ "FreeSports Ice Hockey". Twitter. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "FreeSports Ice Hockey". Twitter. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  9. ↑ "ELITE LEAGUE TO BE TELEVISED ON FREESPORTS | Elite Ice Hockey League - Pointstreak Sites". eliteleague.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  10. ↑ "Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup opener to be shown on free-to-air TV in UK". Autosport.com. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  11. ↑ "NCL secures live TV deal with FreeSports". www.rugby-league.com. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "Every game for only £9.99 per month!". www.premiersports.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  13. ↑ "BBL games to be shown on FreeSports channel available in 18 million homes - BBL - British Basketball League". BBL - British Basketball League. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  14. ↑ "5 Star Wrestling :: 5 STAR WRESTLING LIVE ON FREESPORTS: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW". 5starwrestling.co.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.