I had commented on it last week, but now the proverbial you-know-what has indeed hit the fan in the Setanta offices, at the announcement it has lost the rights to show 46 matches of the English Premier League with immediate effect.
£30 million in debt, Setanta failed to meet the Friday-deadline put in place, and the league will now put the 46-live matches out to auction. Offers need to be made by Monday, where it is expected Sky will express an interest. Although EU regulatory rules prevent one broadcaster from owning all PL rights, so they will only be able to bid for one of the two 23-game packages Setanta had agreed to. ESPN, the Disney-owned sports channel in the US, are also expected to show interest.
Setanta have a big part to play in the Scottish Premier League, and are still locked in talks with the chiefs there, after also failing to pay the league £3 million. They will also now focus on thire other contracts – England internationals, the FA Cup and Blue Square Premier.
Unfortunately for Setanta, news that it will no longer show English PL games, will probably trigger an influx of cancellation letters from it’s 1.2 million subscribers. It would be an understatement to say things are not looking good for the Irish sports broadcasters….
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yeah makes sense