Updated with radio interview on Today FM on December 9th
Eir is to buy Setanta Sports and the Irish rights to broadcast the UEFA Champions’ League and the European Champions’ Cup Rugby.
The deal is a massive one for the future of sports broadcasting in Ireland, and was forecast as a smart move by the company right here on Sport for Business over two years ago.
“Eircom and BT have a lot in common, and a lot to be gained from each other. Could a marriage be on the cards, one based primarily on an introduction through sport?” Read what we wrote for our members in November 2013 …
BT has been the most high profile and most obvious ‘crossover’ company from being a channel of distribution to a content provider. BT Sport is free to BT Broadband subscribers in Britain and Northern Ireland, giving them genuine differentiation in a crowded but very lucrative market.
Eir provides a quad band play here in Ireland with mobile, broadband, fixed line and broadcast services. The purchase of Setanta Sport puts them in a much stronger position within the domestic market.
There is also every likelihood they will now become players in the sports right bidding market. That has already been shaken up by new Liberty Investment in TV3, Virgin’s purchase of UPC, and Sky’s rumoured move towards creating an Irish specific channel with GAA and more rights to show Premier League games. TG4 has also been a keen participant in picking up rights in GAA, Rugby and other sports.
Elsewhere on Sport for Business this morning we look at how Vodafone have entered the rights market in Spain, successfully bidding for rights to show La Liga matches in coming seasons.
Rob Hartnett from Sport for Business was on The Last Wood with Matt Cooper discussing what the eir Setanta deal might mean for the future of sports broadcasting in Ireland on Tuesday, December 8th. Listen back to the segment at 50 minutes here.
Rob Hartnett from Sport for Business was on The Last Wood with Matt Cooper discussing what the eir Setanta deal might mean for the future of sports broadcasting in Ireland on Tuesday, December 8th. Listen back to the segment at 50 minutes here.Vodafone will be coming on board as main sponsors of the Irish Rugby team in 2016 while the biggest player in the Irish mobile market Three has already committed to supporting the Republic of Ireland soccer team through to 2020.
There will be new partnerships forming over the coming years, many of which might have seemed impossible until recently. Who’s to say that eir and RTÉ might not develop a strategic partnership based on the platform already created for international markets by GAAGo.
Eir is a main sponsor of the All Ireland Football Championship in Gaelic Games and this move towards content makes it more likely that this will be renewed.
The Championship played a major part in the relaunch of Eir back in September. Setanta has already published it’s programme of matches to be broadcast live through early 2016 as part of the Allianz Leagues.
The deal will require regulatory approval before it becomes final, allowing time for completing a strategic look at how the two entities will be of benefit to each other, from the studios Setanta operate in the centre of Dublin through to a variety of exciting potential advances.
“We will now offer our customers the widest range and highest calibre of sports content in Ireland,” said eir CEO Richard Moat.
“Buying Setanta Sports Ireland is a game changer for eir and is our largest acquisition since we purchased Meteor in 2005.”
It’s not only the eir shareholders and Setanta founders Michael O’Rourke and Leonard Ryan that will be looking forward to a bright future as a result of this deal…
