Setanta ‘delighted’ with Champions League deal

Subscription channel Setanta Sports has trumpeted itself as "the big winners" from the distribution of Champions League and Europa League television rights in Ireland for the next three years.

Setanta confirmed yesterday it had acquired live rights to both the Champions League and Europa League in Ireland for three years from 2015/16 — though the “exclusively live” claim is misleading, with TV3 and RTÉ continuing to show free-to-air live games until 2018.

What the Setanta Sports package will have is live coverage from the full suite of Champions League games on a given night.