First things first: No, the Americans are not coming to desecrate England's national game.
Skeptics groaned after U.S.-based sports network ESPN secured rights to broadcast Premier League games in Britain, seizing a foothold in the home market of the world's most popular and lucrative football league. Here it comes, went the thinking. American accents, easily excitable broadcasters _ even cries of "PK!" for penalty kick.
ESPN promises it won't be that way.
Already an established international presence, the network will be targeting the domestic audience with British commentators and a promise to give viewers what they are used to hearing and seeing.
"We think about being locally relevant," said Russell Wolff, an American who is executive vice president and managing director of ESPN International. "The last thing we want is for people to go, 'Oh, American sports media company.' We want them to go, 'Hey, that's my sports channel, in my country.'"
ESPN, which is 80 percent owned by The Walt Disney Co., acquired the rights in late June to televise 46 live Premier League matches in the coming season and 23 in each of the following three seasons. ESPN took over the pay TV rights package previously held by Irish-based broadcaster Setanta, which failed to make its payments to the league and filed for bankruptcy.
ESPN executives are now preparing to launch a rebranded channel Monday and broadcast their first league game on Aug. 15 _ Everton vs. Arsenal at Goodison Park.
"This is one of the greatest challenges we've ever faced," Wolff said. "We're starting from zero, no rights, no (on-air) talent, rebranding, affiliate deals, sponsorship, and going from zero to 100 mph in eight weeks."
Wolff acknowledges that ESPN must still overcome a perception in some quarters that an American network is hijacking the English game.
"I am sensitive to it," he said in an interview at the network's London offices in Hammersmith. "We will ensure that we treat this with the same respect and reverence and appreciation for the competition that we've done everywhere we've gone in the world, whether it's NFL or NBA for American fans, or the World Cup, which we've broadcast in Brazil the last three times."
ESPN will use rival satellite broadcaster Sky's production services, including broadcast trucks and cameras, but will feature its own talent, graphics and sets.
"We are going to ensure the editorial angle and the presentation style and the look and feel of this presentation is very much ESPN," Wolff said.
ESPN has hired Ray Stubbs, a respected _ if not marquee _ veteran sports presenter with the BBC and Rebecca Lowe, who previously worked for Setanta, to co-host its Premier League broadcasts. The commentary team will include Derek Rae, a Scotsman who has worked on ESPN's football output in the United States for the last 12 years.
The new channel, called simply ESPN, incorporates the previous channel ESPN America. Besides carrying Premier League and other football matches, it will offer a mix of British, international and American sports, including Major League Baseball, the NHL and NCAA football and basketball.
ESPN's coverage will not be shown in the U.S., where the English league rights are held by Fox Soccer Channel, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
ESPN also won the rights to air Premier League matches in Ireland, and combined with Sky to secure the rights to 30 Scottish Premier League games a season.
This week, ESPN concluded deals to air topflight German, Portuguese, Dutch and Russian league football, as well as Major League Soccer from the United States. ESPN also announced rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, French rugby, the Australian Football League and the European Basketball Championship.
ESPN is selling subscriptions through Sky for $15 to $20, depending on the deal.
Sky Sports, controlled by News Corp., retains the bulk of Premier League rights in Britain through 2012-13, including 92 games in the coming season and 115 a season over the next three. Sky's latest three-year deal is reportedly worth more than $1.6 billion.
ESPN, which had made previous Premier League bids, did not disclose how much it paid for the rights it obtained, though British news reports estimated the fee at $147 million for the first season and $260 million for the following three.
More than $8.2 billion has been poured into the topflight game by TV companies since the formation of the Premier League in 1992, income that has helped attract some of the world's highest-profile stars to England.
The Premier League, which collectively sells the TV rights and shares the revenue among the 20 clubs, was impressed with ESPN's track record.
"They have a formidable worldwide reputation and experience in sports," Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said.
ESPN has broadcast the Premier League in Brazil and in Asia through a joint venture with ESPN Star Sports.
It has been patiently waiting for the right time to break into the British market and Wolff promises the network's coverage will feature a "relentless focus" on the fans.
While they'll be showing only a few dozen games, the Premier League is a cornerstone of ESPN's international strategy. The company has local programming in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, India, Australia and Canada, among others. It also has Web sites dedicated to football (ESPNSoccernet), cricket (ESPNCricinfo) and rugby (ESPNScrum).
James Pickles, editor of TV Sports Markets, said it could take a few years for ESPN to break even on its Premier League investment, particularly since the network holds the rights to only half the number of games in the second season that it does in the first.
"That's not an ideal opening for them," he said. "Having said that, they are much better placed than Setanta. They're a strategic player, not pursuing short-term profits. They've got the Disney leverage."
Pickles said ESPN must also contend with a pocket of doubters.
"There will be elements that will have to be won over in the press and the wider public," he said. "I've heard jokes that if they get the rights to show the FA Cup, the headlines will be about the 'Mickey Mouse Cup.'"
Wolff is undaunted.
"We're going to make sure we are right on target with what we do," he said. "Nobody is better positioned to pull this off than we are."
