AndyJR 0 Posted June 22, 2009 Not that I''m even slightly surprised. Cricket, Football - to think it''s about the Supporters. Should have known better really......... ESPN buys rights to Setanta games ESPN has bought the rights to show 46 games in next season''s English Premier League that were to have been shown by struggling broadcaster Setanta.Disney-owned ESPN has won the two packages of games shown on Saturday teatimes and Monday evenings. It says both will be sold through BSkyB. It has also won the 23 games per season Setanta was due to show from 2010-13. The league took the broadcasting rights back from Setanta on Friday after it missed a payment deadline. The Premier League had set a deadline of Monday for other broadcasters to submit offers for the games. "ESPN have a formidable worldwide reputation and experience in sports and I am sure we will enjoy a long and fruitful relationship with them," said Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore. "I would like to thank ESPN, as well as all the other broadcasters who submitted bids, for their professionalism and effort in engaging in our sales process at such short notice." Russell Wolff, managing director of ESPN International, said: "This move demonstrates our commitment to British sports fans and our ongoing commitment to delivering football to fans around the world across a variety of media." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nolegs 0 Posted June 22, 2009 Joined on 16/10/2007 Posts 2,666 I suppose it was too much to ask for a terrestial Channel to have bought them.......... Yes it was Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Old Shuck 291 Posted June 22, 2009 Neither the BBC or ITV could afford it!F1 and retaining the Open golf, Wimbledon etc has wiped out the BBC''s sport budget, they are also ringfencing an amount so they can get test cricket back next Summer when the deal with Sky expires.ITV are so short of money they have had to axe "Primevel" to save the pennies! Plus their contract with the FA and for the Champions League is stretching them so much, they may let one or the other go to the BBC when rights come up again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Houston Canary 0 Posted June 22, 2009 I hope this means the games will be on ESPN or one of it''s various versions, in the US. Setanta costs extra from my cable, so I''d only get it if I knew they were showing a Norwich match, but with us in League 1, chances of that are about 0. Actually, with my buddy''s Newcastle down, I won''t have much reason to watch Prem at all. But when NCFC is back in the Prem in 2 years, I want to be able to see as many games as I got to last time we were up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
king canary 8,757 Posted June 22, 2009 [quote user="Houston Canary"]I hope this means the games will be on ESPN or one of it''s various versions, in the US. Setanta costs extra from my cable, so I''d only get it if I knew they were showing a Norwich match, but with us in League 1, chances of that are about 0. Actually, with my buddy''s Newcastle down, I won''t have much reason to watch Prem at all. But when NCFC is back in the Prem in 2 years, I want to be able to see as many games as I got to last time we were up.[/quote]No Americas prem rights are still with Fox Soccer channel. This deal is about the british rights, because ESPN want to launch a british channel. American rights are sold seperatley. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gingerpele 0 Posted June 22, 2009 ESPN comes free with Sky sports though doesn''t it? so its not an extra extra thing, as long as you have sky sports :P Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newyorkcanary 14 Posted June 22, 2009 This is awful. ESPN''s treatment of football here in the US is terrible. Tommy Smyth, JP Dellacamra and Alexi Lalas make my ears bleed. Pray they hire some talent to call the matches. Pray hard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KingsLynnCanary 0 Posted June 22, 2009 According to the BBC, even people subscribed to Sky Sports will have to pay extra to see the matches - the same as it worked with Setanta then.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Houston Canary 0 Posted June 22, 2009 [quote user="king canary"][quote user="Houston Canary"]I hope this means the games will be on ESPN or one of it''s various versions, in the US. Setanta costs extra from my cable, so I''d only get it if I knew they were showing a Norwich match, but with us in League 1, chances of that are about 0. Actually, with my buddy''s Newcastle down, I won''t have much reason to watch Prem at all. But when NCFC is back in the Prem in 2 years, I want to be able to see as many games as I got to last time we were up.[/quote]No Americas prem rights are still with Fox Soccer channel. This deal is about the british rights, because ESPN want to launch a british channel. American rights are sold seperatley.[/quote]Setanta must have some of the soccer rights in the US, because they show Prem games live, and not the same ones as Fox Soccer Channel. But FSC comes with expanded basic cable on many systems. Setanta doesn''t on the ones I know of, and is not even available for an extra fee on some of the satelllite services.But thanks for the clarification re" ESPN starting up in Britain and being separate from US service. NYCanary, their coverage of US soccer is not THAT bad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newyorkcanary 14 Posted June 22, 2009 [quote user="Houston Canary"][quote user="king canary"][quote user="Houston Canary"]I hope this means the games will be on ESPN or one of it''s various versions, in the US. Setanta costs extra from my cable, so I''d only get it if I knew they were showing a Norwich match, but with us in League 1, chances of that are about 0. Actually, with my buddy''s Newcastle down, I won''t have much reason to watch Prem at all. But when NCFC is back in the Prem in 2 years, I want to be able to see as many games as I got to last time we were up.[/quote]No Americas prem rights are still with Fox Soccer channel. This deal is about the british rights, because ESPN want to launch a british channel. American rights are sold seperatley.[/quote]Setanta must have some of the soccer rights in the US, because they show Prem games live, and not the same ones as Fox Soccer Channel. But FSC comes with expanded basic cable on many systems. Setanta doesn''t on the ones I know of, and is not even available for an extra fee on some of the satelllite services.But thanks for the clarification re" ESPN starting up in Britain and being separate from US service. NYCanary, their coverage of US soccer is not THAT bad. [/quote]Houston, Tommy Smyth is a matchkiller. I usually hit mute if he''s on. Just listening to the Sky/Setanta feeds is so much better. This deal won''t affect us at all... they have not yet sold/divvied up Setanta''s US rights yet, but it seems academic that ESPN will swoop for those as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newyorkcanary 14 Posted June 22, 2009 Why is it all of the sudden I cannot "quote" properly? I know it must be frustrating to see that block of text that is supposed to be a quote. It is for me. Any ideas out there? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Metatron 0 Posted June 22, 2009 I refused to pay extra for Setanta on top of my Sky subscription, and I''m not going to pay extra for ESPN. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
