ESPN, TV5 join forces for rebranded ‘ESPN 5’

American sports network ESPN and Philippine broadcast station TV5 on Thursday announced a long-time partnership that would bring a more comprehensive coverage to Filipino sports fans.

With the partnership, the all-sports channel Sports5 will be rebranded to ESPN5 .

Mike Morrison, Vice President and General Manager of ESPN APAC, said the collaboration will allow the two brands to “jointly serve millions of sports fans in the Philippines with exceptional content and coverage.”

“We are very excited about the opportunities that lie ahead as we bring ESPN’s great content, and decades of experience in sports media together with a dynamic leader in Philippine sports broadcasting like TV5,” he said in a statemnt.

The collaboration will bring forth new content on top of what TV5 already broadcasts on Philippine television such as the PBA, Fiba, UFC, and Philippine SuperLiga, among others.

TV5 will now be able to show ESPN studio programs, X Games, ESPN’s Big Fights library, the 30 for 30 series, IndyCar Racing, and the NCAA tournaments.

Regular season NFL games up to the Super Bowl will also be shown on local TV.

A SportsCenter Philippine Edition that will be produced from the TV5 studios.

“Our partnership with ESPN, long recognized as the worldwide leader in sports, gives us tremendous upside in the quality of sports programming that we bring to the market,” said TV5 President Chot Reyes.