Yahoo offers Premier League highlights

Yahoo has today launched its new online Premier League highlights service, with a multi-million pound marketing campaign planned to promote it.

In April, the search engine firm agreed a deal to offer five-minute highlights packages from every Premier League game on its main website. The highlights will be made available from midnight on Sunday after weekend games and midnight the same day after week-day ties.

As well as the highlights, Yahoo users in the UK can also access a variety of 'best-of' packages, including 'Best Goals', 'Best Saves', 'Tactical Debate' and 'Team of the Week'. There will further be previews of every game, along with a facility to share highlight links with other users on Facebook and Twitter.

Yahoo has already agreed sponsorship deals for its Premier League highlights service with a range of brands, including Adidas, Heineken, BT and Sony Pictures.

The company now plans to launch a major marketing campaign for the service under the strapline, "Miss a game? We didn't". The campaign will go live on a range of digital platforms and radio services, including a key multi-platform partnership with London station XFM.

"Following on from the success of Yahoo's World Cup activity with David Beckham, our ambition for Barclays Premier League coverage is for Yahoo to become your home for football online - whether you're a user or an advertiser," said Yahoo UK managing director Mark Rabe.

"Yahoo's Barclays Premier League coverage will deliver for both. For the casual or serious football fan, it's the best bits of the weekend's action - perfect to catch up on games you may have missed, for sharing with friends and for being part of the conversation at work on Monday."

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore added: "The way fans access Barclays Premier League action is growing ever more diverse and sophisticated. The online highlights package is an important medium for supporters of all our clubs to be able to follow match action.

"Yahoo has a great reputation and presence in new media and we are pleased to welcome them as a Premier League rights holder. I am sure they will do a fantastic job in reaching the widest possible online audience over the next three seasons."

Separately, ESPN recently unveiled its new ESPN Goals mobile phone application offering video highlights of every Premier League goal "usually within minutes" of it being scored.