Everton and Liverpool football players team up to celebrate BT Sport launch
The pair will be rivals on the pitch for the Merseyside derby on Sunday but the duo are on the same team as BT Ambassadors and co-stars in TV ads for BT Sport.
Spurs star and Professional Footballers Association Player of the Year Gareth Bale, plus Arsenal and England winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have signed up to be BT Ambassadors too. Premier League top scorer Robin van Persie, of Manchester United, will also star in the TV adverts.
BT’s acquisition of ESPN’s TV channels business in the UK and Ireland will bring the rights to show live games for the FA Cup, Scottish Premier League, Europa League and the German Bundesliga. BT Sport will show 38 exclusively live games from the Barclays Premier League for three years from August 2013. Eighteen of the games are top picks.
Fellaini said: “It was great to film the adverts with some of the most successful players in the Premier League. It’s exciting to be involved with BT Sport and I am looking forward to contributing to the programmes next season. I hope that I can bring some real insight from a player’s point of view.”
Sturridge said: “These are exciting times for me. I feel that I have settled in well at Liverpool and next season I want to reach new levels on and off the pitch. I am looking forward to being involved in the BT Sport ads and giving the viewers some fresh insight into the game.”
Simon Green, head of BT Sport, added: “We are thrilled to have bridged the Merseyside divide and captured two stars, one from either side of Stanley Park. Both these guys are exactly the sort of young, distinctive talents we want to showcase. Fans know them for their outstanding ability on the pitch, but we are also aiming to get them involved in our programmes and to offer some fresh new voices from within the top tier game.”
BT Sport has also secured the rights to live top tier matches from Serie A in Italy, Ligue 1 in France, Brasileiro in Brazil and Major League Soccer in the USA.
It will also show exclusive coverage of all 69 live rugby union games from the Aviva Premiership.
In addition, BT has signed a deal with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to show matches from 21 global tournaments, including the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships.
The company has opened a pre-registration site for customers to register their interest in BT Sport at www.btsport.com
