IRISH PAY TV broadcaster Setanta Sports was dealt a blow yesterday when the English Premier League announced that from the 2010/11 season the Dublin-based broadcaster would retain just one of the two packages of live UK rights that it currently holds.
Setanta has retained the right to show 23 games on Saturday evenings in Britain from August 2010 but has lost its coverage of Monday night games to satellite rival BSkyB.
Setanta will pay £159 million for its package, which will cover three seasons. In 2006, the Irish broadcaster broke Sky’s monopoly on live Premier League rights by paying £392 million for exclusive coverage of 46 matches.
The Premier League confirmed yesterday that Sky had won rights to five of the six packages of live games that were auctioned among broadcasters.
Sky is paying £1.623 billion for 115 matches, which includes all the top matches. Under EU rules, Sky is prevented from owning more than five of the six packages.
In total, the Premier League secured £1.782 billion for its live rights in the UK, 5 per cent more than its previous three-year deal.
In a statement, Niall Cogley, chief executive of Setanta Sports Ireland, said: “While it is obviously disappointing that our UK business has lost one of its packages, they will be buoyed by the fact that they beat stiff international competition to regain rights.”
ESPN, which is owned by Walt Disney, said it bid for the rights and was disappointed to lose out.
Setanta, which was founded by Irishmen Leonard Ryan and Michael O’Rourke, will be disappointed to have lost out to Sky on one of its rights packages. Securing them three years ago provided Setanta with a platform to build its premium subscriber base to its current level of 1.5 million and prompted some analysts to value the company at £1 billion.
Maintaining these customers will be more challenging with a diminished portfolio of Premier League games, although Setanta does hold rights to live FA Cup and England matches.
It is understood Setanta will raise the £159 million from current shareholders, which include private equity firms Doughty Hanson and Balderton Capital.
The spotlight now switches to the auction of international rights, including those for Ireland. In 2006, Sky and Setanta were awarded “mirror” rights for Ireland, with the Dublin-based group also getting the nod to show 33 live games here on Saturday afternoons.
About £30 million was paid by Sky and Setanta for the Irish rights in 2006. Tender documents for Ireland are expected to be circulated in the coming weeks.
“It is important to realise that the Premier League tender in Ireland has not yet begun and that we are hopeful of being able to retain our current portfolio of 79 live matches,” Mr Cogley said.
This would indicate that Setanta will seek to win the Irish rights for Monday night games, which have been awarded to Sky in the UK. With 580,000 subscribers here, Sky is expected to make a concerted effort to win the Irish rights to the five packs it has won for the British market.
