The 2007 Boat Race, sponsored by Xchanging, will be seen live in America for the first time following a deal, brokered by Korer Media, between the Boat Race Company Limited and ESPNU.

ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, has acquired exclusive television and other multi-media rights in the United States to air the 2007 Oxford vs. Cambridge University contest.

The agreement was reached this week between ESPNU and The Boat Race Company in association with deal broker Korer Media Ltd. ESPNU will televise The Race live on April 7th beginning at 11:00 AM ET. The agreement also gives ESPNU a first option to air the 2008 and 2009 Boat Races.

This is the first time that the Boat Race will have been broadcast live in the US.

The Oxford vs. Cambridge University Boat Race, first held in 1829, is one of the most grueling contests in world sport. The Boat Race is rowed on a 4.25 mile course on London’s heavily tidal River Thames. The format pits two coxed crews, consisting of eight international oarsmen studying full-time at both Universities, against each other as well as, often, against a wall of wind and waves.

"The Boat Race is an iconic British sporting event with considerable interest globally. In developing the relationship with ESPN, we have the ideal partner to present this uniquely exciting race to a large and growing US-based multi-media audience,” said Howard Jacobs, Chief Executive of The Boat Race Company Ltd.

Americans have played a prominent part in the 175-year history of The Race. Since 1950, over 10 percent of the oarsmen have been North Americans; a remarkable and consistent record of participation in this event. The first American participant dates back to 1861 when George Richards rowed for Cambridge. Since then, there have been 128 North American participant athletes in total – 70 with Oxford and 58 with Cambridge.

In 2005, Oxford’s crew included Paul Daniels and Jamie Schroeder who went on to become World Champions for the United States.

Pictures for the ESPN coverage will be provided by ITV Sport through an international feed - another innovation in 2007.

About ESPNU ESPNU was launched in March 2005. The network features extensive studio programming and live coverage of games, including college football, college basketball and other Olympic sports from over 20 Division I conferences such as the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Atlantic 10, Big 12, BIG EAST, Big South, Big Ten, Horizon League, Mid-American Conference, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), Southland, Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and more. In addition, the network has a wide-ranging, long-term agreement with the NCAA calling for enhanced coverage of 22 NCAA Championships, showcasing sports from each of the three collegiate seasons. ESPNU also has exclusive re-air rights to games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Regional television programming.

In addition, ESPNU.com, the companion to the ESPNU college sports television network, is the online destination for college sports content, including news, information, extensive online video and audio and more.

ESPNU has secured distribution agreements with Cox, DIRECTV (Channel 609), Echostar’s DISH Network (Channel 148), Insight Communications, Mediacom, Verizon, several smaller affiliates and is close to distribution agreements with others. The 24-hour television network is the key component of the multimedia ESPNU initiative that will also deliver college sports content across ESPN’s family of services, such as ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Radio, ESPN360, merchandising and more.