ESPN, the American sports network that has won the rights to show 46 Premier League matches next season, will set up a new stand-alone channel to screen the games, reports The Guardian. Lynne Franks, the ESPN executive who brokered the Premier League deal, said: "Buying the Premier League rights is a huge step and we are excited to use that as a platform to move into [more] local live sport. Our intention is to launch an ESPN channel that will carry all the Premier League sport and also other sport."

Franks said the new ESPN channel, which will run alongside its existing UK channels, ESPN Classic and ESPN America, will be available on every platform, including cable, satellite and Freeview.