Setanta Could Be In Trouble

The Irish Times details the recent missed payments on a key deal that may indicate some trouble within the UK sports network:

DUBLIN-BASED pay TV broadcaster Setanta Sports is believed to have missed a £10 million installment payment to the Football Association in England, potentially jeopardising its rights to live FA Cup and England internationals and raising concerns about its future viability.

www.Ifight365.com, which is headquartered in the UK, has some keen insight into how this may affect the Setanta's partners.

Speculation is rife that the satellite broadcaster could collapse in a situation that shows signs of mirroring the failure of ITV Digital several years ago.
And one scenario currently being looked at is cutting back on the number of channels currently offered to subscribed in a move that could potentially cause the UFC and Setanta's other partners problems.

And while those deals may be the ones that stand out in the company accounts, the likes of the UFC and an exclusive 3-year deal with Frank Warren’s Sports Network to give a new home to boxers such as Joe Calzaghe and Enzo Maccarinelli could also be hit by the cash-strapped company.

One option is for the company as part of a cutback would be to focus on a smaller number of channels. Currently, Setanta offers customers up to twelve subscription channels. Restructuring and cost-cutting could reduce that number down to as few as two channels, with the focus being on offering as much top quality football as possible.

Obviously if that is the route Setanta choose to go down, other sports will likely be affected to some degree and in some cases, dropped completely.


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