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ESPN and BAMtech acquire U.S. EFL Championship TV rights

By Josh Tonti

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 02: Coventry City lift the trophy to celebrate winning the EFL Checkatrade Trophy Final between Coventry City v Oxford United at Wembley Stadium on April 2, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 02: Coventry City lift the trophy to celebrate winning the EFL Checkatrade Trophy Final between Coventry City v Oxford United at Wembley Stadium on April 2, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images) /
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We finally have movement along U.S. TV rights for the 2017/2018 Championship season. BAMtech has acquired United States’ broadcasting rights.

After years of hosting the EFL Championship in the United States, beIN SPORTS is out. This was expected after their contract ended this summer.

But in a strange turn of events, the broadcast partner was planning on delivering the matches anyway.

From World Soccer Talk, BAMtech is a streaming technology provider. They have since partnered with ESPN to televise and stream on the ESPN family of networks.

"BAMTech is a streaming technology provider that is part owned by MLB, Disney (parent company of ESPN) and the NHL. The technology provider was recently in the news when it was revealed that they bid on the rights for the UEFA Champions League but were beaten by Turner Sports."

It should be assumed that almost all Championship matches (that are being provided) will be streamed on ESPN3 as opposed to actual cable television. To watch, it will require a cable subscription that carries ESPN.

Now the caveat here is the new iFollow program launched by the United Kingdom earlier this year. A $140 subscription allows for streaming of matches not provided on television such as Sky in the U.K. and ESPN in the U.S.

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You may recall that Aston Villa is one of the EFL clubs NOT participating in iFollow. Instead, Villa will provide their own streaming subscription on AVTV.

How many matches ESPN plans to stream will be very interesting to watch. If they plan on carrying every league match every week, it seems to make iFollow irrelevant in the United States. Anything similar to how NBCSN carried the Premier League for 5+ years is a swoon for EFL fans with cable packages.

If you fall into that small group of: U.S. resident, Villa fan, no cable package, we recommend signing for Aston Villa’s provided service.

For the first time ever, we can comfortably say there are now multiple options to watch England’s second division live. The availability and quality of the streaming service is yet unknown.

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