Florida Cup Renews Expanded Broadcast Partnership with FOX Sports

The Florida Cup, the largest annual international soccer tournament in the Sunshine State, announced it renewed and expanded its broadcast partnership with FOX Sports. Under the terms of the agreement, all Florida Cup matches will air across the FOX Sports family of networks in the U.S, Central America, Caribbean Islands and South America, with the exception of Brazil. The event will air on FOX Sports in Latin America, and FOX Soccer Channel in the U.S.

This is the most comprehensive broadcast partnership in Florida Cup history, demonstrating the event’s growing popularity as the preeminent preseason international soccer tournament in the US.

Matches will be played from January 8^th to January 21^st, 2017, in Orlando, St Petersburg and Ft Lauderdale.The tournament’s opening match in 2017 will feature Argentine powerhouse Estudiantes de la Plata with the return of former Manchester United and national team legend Juan Sebastián Verón, against top Bundesliga club and major UEFA Champions League contenders Bayer 04 Leverkusen, led by Mexican star Javier “Chicharito” Hernández.

“The expanded relationship with industry leader FOX Sports demonstrates the significant growth of this event in just three short years,” said Florida Cup CEO Ricardo Villar. “The Florida Cup features elite international clubs, a world wide international broadcast agreement with partners DFL, and thrilling fan entertainment highlighted by a new Fan Fest at the I-Drive 360.”

“We are very excited to extend our rights to broadcast the Florida Cup across Latin America and to include U.S. rights in this new deal,” said Francisco Pazmiño, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Programming Strategy, FOX Sports Latin America.  “The Florida Cup will be a great opening act for a year of exciting soccer competitions on our FOX Sports networks and platforms across the region. The presence of major Latin American clubs such as River Plate and Corinthians plus Bundesliga powerhouses Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Wolfsburg will make this tournament very appealing to our audiences.”  

In addition, tickets to the 2017 Florida Cup are still available for purchase at www.floridacup.com. An updated website has been launched for the 2017 tournament. Fans are encouraged to check the site for updates, as well as follow the tournament on social media through Facebook (@FLCup), Instagram (@florida_cup) and Twitter (@florida_cup).

The Florida Cup Fan Fest will kick off on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017 with an opening ceremony, and concludes on Saturday, Jan. 21. The festival will run every day of the tournament, featuring family friendly activities, team events and live music including evening shows. The Fan Fest is one of several activities planned throughout Orlando in January that will commemorate this major sporting event, and drive additional awareness and economic benefit to Central Florida.

The Florida Cup has become the largest annual sporting event in Florida after only two editions with live broadcasted matches to 171 countries in 2016, a number expected to be broken in 2017. The event this year brings 12 clubs from seven different countries, totaling a fan base of over 100 million fans.

The Florida Cup features two distinct formats in 2017:

● FC Challenge – A Davis Cup-modeled competition similar to the format during the Florida Cup’s debut in 2015, with Clubs representing Countries, each vying for points to secure the tournament title for their home nation. This phase will occur from Jan. 8 – Jan. 15.

● FC Playoff – A single-elimination round of international teams where only one remaining champion will thrive. This phase will occur from Jan. 15 – Jan 21.

About the Florida Cup:

The Florida Cup is the largest international sporting event held annually in Central Florida. Broadcast live in 2016 to over 170 countries, the tournament reached an audience of over 40 million viewers in South America. Globally recognized soccer clubs from four different continents will convene in Central Florida for this premier tournament – a final tune-up before the start of their respective campaigns. For more information on the Florida Cup, visit www.floridacup.com, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About FOX Sports U.S.:

FOX Sports is the umbrella entity representing 21st Century FOX’s wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets. Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, FOX Sports includes ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing partnerships. FOX Sports includes the sports television arm of the FOX Broadcasting Company; FS1; FS2; Fox’s 22 regional sports networks, their affiliated regional web sites and FSN national programming; FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Soccer 2Go; FOX Deportes and FOX College Sports. In addition, FOX Sports also encompasses FOX Sports Digital, which includes FOXSports.com, FOX Sports GO, Whatifsports.com and Yardbarker.com. Also included in the Group are FOX’s interests in joint-venture businesses Big Ten Network and BTN 2Go, as well as licensing agreements that establish the FOX Sports Radio Network.

About FOX Sports Latin America:

FOX Sports is the leading sports Pay-tv network in Latin America. The 24/7 network reaches more than 61 million homes in 19 countries across Latin America. Focusing on sports-related programming including live events, sports news, sports talk shows and other original contents, CONMEBOL Libertadores Bridgestone, Bundesliga, Italian Serie A TIM, UEFA Champions League, NFL, MLB, WWE, Formula 1 and Formula E are some of the network’s highlights. FOX Sports is owned by FOX Networks Group (FNG) a 21st Century Fox (NASDAQ: FOX; ASX: FOX) company. For more information, please visit: www.foxsportsla.com

– Florida Cup –

For Florida Cup: Lenny Santiago | (386) 451-5809 | lenny@lmsmarcomm.com

For Tampa Bay Rowdies: Nico Castillo | (813) 527-1376 | ncastillo@rowdiessoccer.com

For UCF: Nate Blythe | (407) 823-6489 | nblythe@athletics.ucf.edu