beIN SPORTS Announces Programming During First-Ever Upfront Event For Broadcast Year 2014-2015

NEW YORK, May 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- beIN SPORTS, the international sports network, unveiled its 2014-2015 programming schedule today during its first-ever Upfront event. The network presented its solid line-up of premium sports content to advertisers and marketers during the presentation held at Rockefeller Center's, 620 Loft & Garden in New York.

The event offered an interactive sporting experience that included a presentation led by the Managing Director of beIN SPORTS, Yousef Al-Obaidly and Antonio Briceno, Deputy Managing Director of beIN SPORTS North America. They will be accompanied by top on-air personalities Kay Murray and Ruud Gullit as Masters of Ceremony, Ray Hudson, Jose Hernandez, Christian Vieri and Terri Leigh.

Since its launch in 2012, beIN SPORTS has quickly emerged as a powerhouse in the global sports arena, having entered the U.S. market with two channels, one in English, beIN SPORTS, and one in Spanish, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, each with separate programming. In addition to the two linear broadcast channels, fans can also turn to beIN SPORTS PLAY, the network's streaming video player, for even more sports action online. beIN SPORTS has seven live digital streams allowing fans to consume as much sports content as possible, totally free by authenticating through their cable provider. With over 22 million subscribers, beIN SPORTS has become the fastest growing independent sports network in the business.

"beIN SPORTS launched in the U.S. with the mission of providing the top sports content to one of the biggest media markets in the world, and to put fans in front of the sports they want," said Antonio Briceno, Deputy Managing Director of beIN SPORTS North America. "In just two short years, we have made huge strides towards achieving that goal by bringing viewers over 3,000 hours of live coverage and more premium international content across our various platforms. We take a total market approach as we work to create and deliver innovative and seamless TV and digital media solutions allowing marketers to reach consumers across every available screen."

Of the network's total sports programming offering, one sport dominates the network's line-up—soccer. Soccer is the fastest growing sport in the US and while there are more networks broadcasting soccer in the US than any other sport, this broadcast season, beIN SPORTS will bring fans exclusive coverage of the top soccer leagues and some of the biggest championships in the world. The network will air an array of top soccer programming in the 2014-2015 season, a few of which were highlighted during today's presentation.

Among those slated for the 2014/2015 season are:

• 2015 Copa America – beIN SPORTS will feature exclusive coverage of one of the most highly anticipated tournaments of 2015 and one of the most viewed soccer tournaments worldwide.  The tournament will showcase the best in South American soccer with its 10 national teams and feature invited guest – the Mexican national team.
• La Liga – beIN SPORTS will have exclusive coverage of Spain's soccer league, considered to be one of the best in world. It is home to Hispanic America's two favorite teams, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Considered to be two of the most popular and successful soccer clubs in the world, these two teams will meet once again in a rivalry famously known as El Clasico and beIN SPORTS will once again air coverage of the match. In addition, the network will air the Copa del Rey, the annual tournament for Spanish League teams in honor of the reigning monarch.
• Serie A – This top Italian league has always been among the world's greatest. European giants such as Juventus, AC Milan, Roma, and Inter Milan battle out a grueling season against heavy competition to see who will be crowned Italian champions. beIN SPORTS' league coverage will also exclusively air Coppa Italia, the actual championship for Italy's domestic league title. 
• Ligue 1 – The French First Division showcases some of Europe's most exciting games, breeding some of the top talent in soccer history and was the most recent home to soccer superstar David Beckham. Considered to be one of the most competitive leagues in the sport, teams such as Paris St. Germain, Olympique Marseille and Lyon all fight for the championship crown.

In addition to these top three European leagues, beIN SPORTS has a strong portfolio of other soccer leagues and matches including the Russian Premier League, Football Championship (UK) and CONMEBOL/CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers.

This season, the network will also bring fans high quality original sports and entertainment studio programming featuring coverage, news, analysis and more. Both of the following studio shows will be headed to Chile to provide comprehensive wall-to-wall coverage of Copa America in 2015.

• "The Express" – beIN SPORTS' flagship news program guiding viewers through all of the top storylines in sports and covering the headlines that matter most to U.S. sports fans. During the World Cup, "The Express" weekday edition will be converted to "The Express beIN Brazil," to bring in-depth coverage of the main event.
• "The Locker Room" – A debate-style show featuring a roundtable of experts discussing the hottest topics in soccer. Featuring some of the top names in soccer and hosted by Jeremy St. Louis, the show airs during primetime on Monday evenings.

In addition to soccer, beIN SPORTS will also provide viewers with other exciting sports championships including:

• SBK Superbike FIM World Championship - One of the Europe's most exciting competitions of motorcycle racing. Europe's best racers go head to head in an intense weekend of competition where the qualifying rounds are as intense as the race.
• FIA European Rallycross Championship - The home of the best rallycross racers in Europe where 15 drivers compete in 9 races around the world in some of the hardest tracks of the world.
• FIA GT Series - Formerly known as FIA GT1 World Championship, the series features multiple grand tourer race cars based on production cars. The race format follows two qualifying rounds and a superpole that set up the line-up for the main race. The slowest cars from the qualifying race are eliminated until 10 cars have been set.
• EHF Champions League - The most important club competition for men's and women's handball and involves the leading teams from the top European nations.

For more information on beIN SPORTS programming or the 2014-2015 schedule, please visit www.beinsports.tv.

About beIN SPORTS USA

beIN SPORTS, the international sports network, is the fastest growing international sports network in the U.S., offering viewers premium sports content and entertainment across multiple platforms including TV channels beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS en Espanol. A cornerstone of beIN SPORTS USA is its unrivaled live soccer coverage, news and in-depth analysis of the top leagues from around the world, including exclusive matches from La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Russian Premier League, Football Championship (UK), Copa America 2015, and CONMEBOL/CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers. With beIN SPORTS PLAY, authenticated subscribers can also enjoy all the exciting action and stream live overflow matches offered in HD on your computer, tablet or smartphone. In addition to soccer, beIN SPORTS serves as a haven to fans of motorsports, tennis, rugby, volleyball and Boxing, among others.

For more information, please visit www.beinsports.tv. Follow us on Twitter @beINSPORTSUSA and/or @ESbeINSPORTS and like our beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page for breaking news and real-time updates.

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