Exciting news... SportsMax2 launches tomorrow

This could be one of the best years ever for sports on TV. That’s because SportsMax2 is launching, tomorrow.  It’s part of the new MaxPak Tier, and brings with it a lot of new sports excitement. SportsMax2 will be on Channel 351 in place of Fox Soccer Plus, which stays on our line-up, but moves to channel 53 on the Super Tier. Fox Soccer, currently on Channel 53, is being discontinued.

The New MaxPak will therefore be composed of SportsMax and SportsMax2. So tomorrow, August 15, get ready for something big. Just in time for the Barclays Premier League Matches.

The two SportsMax channels combined pack a serious sports punch: They will offer the region’s most extensive and exclusive coverage of football, cricket, track and field, tennis, golf and high school sports. The best part is, viewers will be treated to more live coverage than ever before. In fact, the new, enhanced MaxPak will be the only place you can watch live international cricket from England, Australia, South Africa, India and the Indian Premier League.

New Channel SportsMax2 will be the football hub of the MaxPak, with most of the Barclays Premier League matches, UEFA matches and other football on that channel.

SportsMax2 will also carry exclusive content from the Premier League FA’s own Premier League TV. This season, with the addition of SportsMax2, fans will get to see more live Barclays Premier League matches than ever before. SportsMax and SportsMax2 will air an astounding 320 BPL matches. 

That’s an increase of 70 more matches over the course of the season, which kicks off on August 17 with the self-anointed “Special One” Jose Mourinho leading Chelsea against Hull and Manchester United, without Alex Ferguson,
facing Swansea. 

SportsMax will continue bringing us international cricket, including the Ashes and the upcoming Australia tour to India, as well as WTA tennis and IAAF track and field.

The new MaxPak Tier is still priced at $22 per month.

Meantime, over on ESPN International, you can find, among other things:

• This Friday at 10:30 pm, tune in for Friday Night Fights when Gabriel Campillo takes on Andrzej Fonfara in Chicago.
• Highlights of the Summer X Games in Los Angeles, with daredevil competitors from around the world – see inline skating, Moto X and street luge.
• This weekend: ATP Tennis with the US Open Series Western and Southern Semifinals.
• Next week, it’s NFL Preseason Football (US football, that is), starting Monday night at 9pm, when the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Washington Redskins.

In addition to sports, here are a few other highlights for August:

It’s a busy month for premieres at AMC, where several award-winning series return, including Breaking Bad, while new arrivals include:

• Owner’s Manual — premieres Thursday, August 15 at 11pm on AMC:

Ed Sanders (“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”) and Marcus Hunt (HGTV’s “Hammer Heads”) star in this new unscripted series, in which they operate advanced and potentially dangerous large, moving machinery and technology. However, only one of them can read the owner’s manual; the other must not. 

• Low Winter Sun – New series, Sundays at 11pm on AMC: 

Set in Detroit, this new dark series stars Mark Strong, who agreed to come on board following his success with the U.K. version. Co-star Lennie James (of “The Walking Dead”) is the perfect Detroit cop. The show opens with a murder in the first ten minutes. Strong likens the show to “a Greek tragedy.”

• Jungle Gold – Sundays at 11pm on Discovery Channel:

Back for a second season, the series follows the return to Ghana of the two rookie American gold miners who won’t give up on striking it rich in the African nation. They have new investors backing them, but troubles are brewing all over.

• The MTV Music Video Awards – Sunday, August 25 at 10pm on MTV: 

Live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn NY, this 30th edition of the awards show will feature live performances by Lady Gaga, Mylie Cyrus and Kanye West, among others. Leading nominees are Justin Timberlake, Macklemor, Ryan Lewis and Bruno Mars.

Rollin Nathan is Sales Manager at Bermuda CableVision.