‘Gamechanger’ deal for Setanta
Some subscription charges will drop
Channels go live from August 1st
The BT Sport Channels that will carry major Premier League fixtures, as well as the biggest challenge to Sky Sports in 20 years will be brought to Irish consumers as part of the Setanta Sports package.
Setanta Sports subscribers on satellite in the Republic of Ireland will receive the BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN channels from August 1st.
The deal is a major one for Setanta who have been operating in Ireland on Saturday afternoon coverage of matches from England, the Allianz National Leagues in GAA, Basketball and a range of non exclusive sports content until this point.
BT Sport shook up the Pay TV market when acquiring the UK and Ireland rights to 38 Barclays Premier League games from the start of next season in August.
The package of matches include 18 ‘top pick’ games which have always rested with Sky and which will mean the likely key games involving Man United, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool shifting now to Setanta.
Other events will include the FA Cup, Italian Serie A, Bundesliga, the Scottish Premier League, Aviva premiership and French Top 14 Rugby, WTA Tennis and 30 live UFC Events.
Setanta announced in May that it had secured the rights to Saturday afternoon games from the Premier League through to the end of the 2015/16 season.
Speaking to Sport for Business last night Brian Quinn, Marketing Operations Director of Setanta Sports said “New pricing will be revealed early next month as we would like to write to our existing customers first. It will still be a great deal for existing customers and I can confirm that annual customers will actually experience a slight price decrease which is great news.”
“This content is a real game changer for Setanta. It’s not just going from 33 to 71 Premier League games that is exciting, it is the massive step-up in the quality of games that will really make the difference for our customers. The new games from BT include 18 top pick matches meaning that we will have top of the table clashes between the leading teams. Also, having the channels available to our customers in HD is a great addition.”
Marc Watson, CEO of TV for BT commented, “We are delighted that Setanta Sports will be distributing BT Sport in the Republic of Ireland. Ireland is a very important market for us and we are confident that Setanta can do a great job establishing the BT Sport brand with Irish sports fans. BT Sport offers some of the very best live football and rugby action. We’ve signed up some of the world’s biggest football stars, like Gareth Bale and Rio Ferdinand, as well as top presenters, such as Jake Humphrey, Lawrence Dallaglio and Clare Balding, to make BT Sport unmissable for sports fans. With Setanta’s existing content, we think BT Sport and Setanta sports will be a winning combination.”
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