The showpiece game between Manchester United and Sevilla at Old Trafford on August 9 - two days before the Red Devils face Wigan Athletic in the FA Community Shield - will be available to watch in 170 countries.
The Premier League champions granted their centre-half a testimonial as a tribute to his 12 years at Old Trafford, making 432 appearances and scoring eight times since joining from Leeds United.
He is set to rack up more outings in the 2013/14 campaign, as United look to defend their league title in the face of challenges from neighbours Manchester City - under new coach Manuel Pellegrini - and Chelsea, with Jose Mourinho back at the helm.
Rio has signed a three-year deal with BT Sport to support the channels as an interviewer, programme-maker and football expert. He will also act as a BT Ambassador along with Spurs star and PFA Player of the Year Gareth Bale and Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Ferdinand said: "Manchester United is a unique club with fans in every corner of the globe so I am delighted that my testimonial is going to be so widely available to all of the club’s supporters in so many countries.
"It is going to be a fantastic and fun evening and there will be famous sporting faces and celebrities popping up all over the place, so it should be an incredible night.”
Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “We are delighted to be associated with a huge star like Rio in all the different ways he is featuring on BT Sport and we are thrilled that his testimonial is going to be live on BT Sport.
“To mark this special occasion, we’ve put together a groundbreaking plan to help make this game available to millions of fans across the globe, and it is something of a technology first for a game to be streamed live on this scale.”
BT has agreed with Streamworks International that they will stream the action live across the globe. In the UK, the streaming will be free for all viewers.
BT Sport will show 38 exclusively live football matches from the Barclays Premier League, including 18 of the ‘top picks’ from August 2013 for three seasons. The channels will also show live FA Cup, UEFA Europa League and Scottish Premier League matches, as well as top tier live football from Germany, Italy, France, Brazil, Australia and the USA, plus 30 live matches from the Football Conference and action from the FA Women’s Super League.
