Setanta Loses Premier League Rights
Troubled pay-TV sports broadcaster Setanta has failed to meet the extended deadline to pay the latest installment of the £30m it owes the English Premier League and has consequently lost the rights.
A potential rescue deal, led by a US investor who had proposed buying 51% of Setanta, had fallen through and the broadcaster is expected to now go into administration.
The Premier League will now put the rights to the 46 live matches for the 2009/2010 season out to auction, after Setanta missed Friday’s payment deadline.
Offers to buy the rights need to be made by the end of Monday with Disney-owned ESPN amongst the rumoured bidders.
The Board of Setanta said it would ‘consider its options over the weekend’. ‘In the meantime, Setanta’s sports channels continue on air,’ it added.
The Premier League said it had been working with Setanta ‘for some time to help them continue as the broadcaster’. The Premier League, in agreement with Setanta, stipulated that certain contractual requirements had to be met on or before Friday ‘to allow the preparations for the 2009/10 season to continue unaffected’.
The league added: ‘It is with considerable regret that we announce that Setanta has been unable to meet their obligations. As such the existing licence agreement between us has been terminated with immediate effect.’
The Premier League will now go ahead and auction the 46 UK live matches for the 2009/10 season.
Late last week, Access Industries, controlled by the US investor Len Blavatnik, tabled a £20m bid for a 51% share in Setanta.
It had been hoped Access could lead a consortium of investors to provide fresh funding for Setanta.
However Access has now said it was unable to proceed with a deal with Setanta.
There had been concerns over how much tax Access could be liable for if it acquired Setanta.
There is uncertainty over what will happen to the 23-game deal that Setanta has already won for the three seasons starting in 2010-11.
But analysts expect that if those rights were up for offer again, a tender process would be resolved quickly.
Setanta is running at an estimated loss of £100m a year, after missing subscriber targets. The broadcaster has 1.2m subscribers, 700,000 short of the 1.9m that industry experts believe they need to break even.
Attention will now shift onto Setanta’s other contracts – such as those with the FA for England and FA Cup matches, the Scottish Premier League (SPL), and the Blue Square Premier, the top division of English non-league football.
