View Full Version : Setanta goes broke...in UK
lesliemoss
23 Jun 2009, 07:01 PM
Setanta has gone bankrupt in the UK and Ireland as of today. But they say the USA part of the business is separate and continues to operate OK at present.
ESPN has bought the premier league game rights in Britain, and it's possible that they or some other group will eventually buy the rights in the USA from Setanta. It seems probable that Setanta will not last long in any event.
hammer_scout51
24 Jun 2009, 02:13 AM
I have setanta and if it had all the EPL i'd get rid of fox. It has a lot of excellent football on. And special one TV. Shut up Sven.
west_ham
24 Jun 2009, 10:46 AM
ESPN has bought the premier league game rights in Britain
Les, do you mean ESPN have bought the rights to televise EPL games in Britain? Or televise EPL games abroad?
lesliemoss
24 Jun 2009, 01:09 PM
Les, do you mean ESPN have bought the rights to televise EPL games in Britain? Or televise EPL games abroad?
I think that ESPN's deal relates to the UK only for the future games contract.They bought the deal that Setanta had. At least that's my understanding; it's hard to believe, by the way, that Setanta will survive in the USA. Some other group is bound to buy them out.
Mr. Orange
24 Jun 2009, 09:54 PM
I think that ESPN's deal relates to the UK only for the future games contract.They bought the deal that Setanta had. At least that's my understanding; That's correct.
ESPN had already been broadcasting EPL matches in Asia, this deal will give them the rights to broadcast in the UK. Hopefully this will increase the number of EPL games in the USA.
speedy808
24 Jun 2009, 10:16 PM
If ESPN manages to get EXCLUSIVE rights in the U.S., I wonder what that means for Fox Soccer Channel. The EPL is FSC's flagship league, in terms of programming.
lesliemoss
24 Jun 2009, 10:26 PM
If ESPN manages to get EXCLUSIVE rights in the U.S., I wonder what that means for Fox Soccer Channel. The EPL is FSC's flagship league, in terms of programming.
ESPN can't get exclusive USA rights to the EPL; Fox has them, and has sold some of the games to Setanta up to now. What the future holds, however, who knows?
west_ham
25 Jun 2009, 06:45 AM
I think that ESPN's deal relates to the UK only for the future games contract.They bought the deal that Setanta had. At least that's my understanding;
OK. So, at the risk of stating the obvious, Setanta UK subscribers will now have to subscribe to ESPN and then find a way of watching that channel.