Setanta deal adds 38 games to package

Setanta Sports has announced a new deal with BT Sport which will add 38 live Premier League games to its TV package and bring to 71 the number of top-flight English matches on offer to Irish subscribers for the next three years.

The British company, which begins broadcasting on August 1, has captured live rights for a number of high-profile sporting events in the UK and beyond and has signed up presenters such as Jake Humphrey and Clare Balding.

Described as a “huge day for Setanta” by the company’s marketing operations director Brian Quinn, the BT package will bring 18 ‘first-choice’ games to the station for the first time, a significant increase in the quality as well as quantity of games available.

With Sky Sports broadcasting 116 English Premier League games live, Irish fans will now be able to watch 187 of the 380 league games as they happen next season, although RTÉ has pulled the plug on its own coverage of the league due to financial constraints.

Twenty-six of the BT fixtures on the Setanta package will sit in the 12.45pm Saturday slot with the remainder being aired midweek and on Bank Holidays, while all three of the new channels will also be available in HD.

The BT tie-up will bring more than just English football to Irish screens, with the addition of the BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN channels also adding FA Cup, SPL, Bundesliga, MLS, French Ligue 1, Serie A and Brasileiro Serie A. Non-football programming will include French Top 14 rugby, 69 Aviva Premiership fixtures, 21 WTA tennis events which will join Setanta’s existing stable, including live Allianz League GAA, Formula 1 and Champions League.

Quinn predicted that existing Setanta subscribers would experience little in the way of a price increase for the enlarged package and predicted a surge in new customers.

BT has also signed a deal with English rugby union clubs to screen live coverage of the Heineken Cup from the 2014/15 season despite the fact that the tournament organisers, European Rugby Cup, have sold the rights to Sky.

Meanwhile, Sky Sports have announced that Irish subscribers will be able to view a record 116 live Premier League games next season.

The station will also broadcast all the Republic of Ireland’s home and away Euro 2016 & World Cup 2018 qualifiers as well as 120 Champions League games, 100 La Liga fixtures and 75 Championship games. “It’s going to be our biggest year of live sport yet,” a Sky spokesperson said.