ESPN Deportes announced a multiyear agreement with the six-team Dominican Baseball League Tuesday. Terms were not disclosed.
ESPN’s Spanish-language service will exclusively air up to 30 DBL regular-season, playoff and championship-series games in the United States and Puerto Rico. The first telecast of the winter league took place Nov. 7, with regular-season contests slated for Wednesdays at 7 p.m. (EST) and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Juan Marichal, the only Dominican-born player in the Baseball Hall of Fame, has been signed to provide commentary and analysis on ESPN Deportes telecasts. The high-kicking pitcher joins DBL and Major League Baseball play-by-play veterans Kevin Cabral and Carlos José Lugo in the booth. Rounding out the broadcast team is field reporter Carolina Cruz.
According to network officials, ESPN Deportes is now in almost 1 million U.S. homes and through distribution deals with Adelphia Communications Corp., Cablevision Systems Corp., Charter Communications Inc., Cox Communications Inc., Insight Communications Co. Inc., Cable One Inc. and the National Cable Television Cooperative, it is available to almost 6 million households.
ESPN Deportes is also available in Puerto Rico on Liberty Cablevision.
