ESPN has bought the rights to screen 46 Premier League matches next season.

ESPN (Entertainment Sports Programming Network) has taken the rights to show 46 Premier League football matches next season away from ailing broadcaster Setanta.

Yesterday (22 June), the Premier League awarded ESPN two exclusive live media packages for the 2009/2010 season, and one package from August 2010 for the following three seasons.

ESPN now own the broadcasting rights to show the Premier League matches played on Saturday afternoons and Monday evenings.

The Premier League took the broadcasting rights back from Setanta on Friday (19 June), after the Irish broadcaster failed to hit a payment deadline.

ESPN will be available for customer subscription through Sky TV. ESPN is currently holding discussions with Virgin Media and BT to make the fixtures readily available across multiple pay-TV platforms.

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said: “The Premier League is extremely pleased to have added ESPN as a UK rights holder.”

Lynne Frank, ESPN Managing Director in Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: “We are clearly delighted that our bid for exclusive media rights to the Barclays Premier League matches in the UK has been successful.

“This is a huge step for our business, and we look forward to working with the Premier League, football clubs and distributors to bring UK sports fans all the excitement they expect in the Premier League.”

Russell Wolff, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of ESPN International, said: “This move demonstrates our commitment to British sports fans and our ongoing commitment to delivering football to fans around the world across a variety of media.”