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Sky increase Premier League share as Setanta lose out

BSkyB have secured the rights to five of the six packages of live Premier League football from the 2010-11 season to the end of 2012-13, with Setanta claiming the sixth.
The Premier League confirmed the overall value of the six packages, with each containing 23 live games, is £1.782billion.
Setanta have held on to the Saturday evening slot but the Monday night match has returned to Sky.

The Premier League will be delighted to have reported an increase in the value of their live rights despite the tough economic climate.

In the last bidding process for the 2007-08 campaign through to the 2009-10 season, the overall figure was believed to be around £1.7bn.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: 'The Barclays Premier League is a fantastic competition. The continued investment in playing talent and facilities made by the clubs is largely down to the revenue generated through the sale of our broadcast rights.

'The live UK rights are the largest contribution to the revenues we distribute centrally to the clubs and this deal gives them the stability to plan and invest in the most important aspect of our business - the football - everything else flows from that.

'I look forward to continuing our good working relationship with BSkyB and Setanta who both provide excellent programming for fans of Premier League football.

'I would also like to thank all of those broadcasters who took part in the bidding process.

Setanta to fight to regain lost rights
UK sports broadcaster Setanta is seeking a meeting with the Premier League in order to broker a deal to regain the rights it lost in last week’s auction.

The Guardian reports that Setanta will aim the talks at getting back the Monday night package of matches, which Sky successfully bid for. However The Guardian says that sources close to the process say that this will be “virtually impossible.”

The Guardian says that analysts believe Setanta’s winning only one package of rights last week may not be enough to sustain its subscriber numbers, and could put an already loss-making business deeper into the red.

The Guardian quotes media research group Enders Analysis as saying about Setanta, “We must…envisage mass subscriber defections, with every 100,000 subscribers now worth approximately £10m on in annual revenues. Today, Setanta reaches about 1.5 million direct subscribers, slightly short of its required break-even total [estimated at around 1.7-1.8m at current prices]. With live Premier League football such a jewel in its crown, the fear is that Setanta could easily lose upwards of a third of its current subscriber base. At the very least it has to review its entire business plan and survival cannot be taken for granted.”

However The Guardian says that a spokesman for Setanta dismissed suggestions that the business was in trouble, saying “Following the outcome of the Premier League rights auction there is understandable speculation about the future of the business.

“But Setanta retain the right to show 46 Premier League games per season until the end of 2009–10, along with a host of other top-class sport including international football, the FA Cup, golf, boxing, Indian Premier League cricket and Guinness Premiership rugby.”