SIA 08: Setanta Is Achievement Of 2008
Setanta Sports’ substantial impact on the sports broadcasting sector was crowned as the Sport Business Achievement of the Year at last night’s Sport Industry Awards 2008.
Setanta co-founders Leonard Ryan and Mickey O’Rourke and head of sport Trevor East picked up the coveted prize, won last year by the board of Arsenal for their work in building the Emirates Stadium, in front of a sellout crowd of industry ambassadors and sport and entertainment celebrities.
The Setanta representatives were presented their award by on stage by former world champion and TV broadcaster, boxing legend Barry McGuigan and one of the world’s most powerful boxing promoters, Frank Warren.
This last year Setanta broke Sky Sports’ long-standing monopoly on showing Barclays Premier League football in the UK by successfully bidding for the rights to show 46 matches per season on its channel.
The broadcaster has also bolstered its rights across a variety of sports including, golf, cricket, rugby union, rugby league and boxing – with the latter including recent live and exclusive coverage of bouts involving Amir Khan and Joe Calzaghe.
As of February this year Setanta had 3m customers in the UK and Ireland with more than 1.1m subscribers to its premium package.
