Days numbered for hyperinflation in broadcasting rights market

SETANTA’S difficulties could hardly have come at a worse time for football.

The combination of huge debts, rising wage costs, downward pressure on ticket sales and sponsorship, not to mention a banking sector unwilling to underwrite any more investment has left many struggling for air.

And that’s just the Premiership. In the Football League, where 40 clubs have become insolvent since 1992, conditions are even more precarious, while the Scottish Premier League (SPL) is bracing itself for some serious pain thanks to Setanta’s cash crisis.