Setanta stand firm over England rights- 5 Sep 2008 00:00:00
Highlights of England’s crucial 2010 World Cup qualifying games will not be shown on terrestrial television after Setanta Sports failed to reach an agreement to sub-license the rights.
While Setanta Sports has pledged to continue talks with terrestrial rivals to broker a last-minute deal for the highlights package, at present the broadcaster has been unable to agree terms with either BBC or ITV, both of whom were reported to have baulked at the asking price.
A spokesperson stated: ‘We've entered into discussions to make available the highlights with two terrestrial broadcasters but to date we haven't received a proposal that makes commercial sense.’
If a last-minute deal is not reached, the start of England's 2010 football World Cup qualifying campaign could become the first major England international not to be shown to terrestrial viewers.
England play Andorra in Barcelona on Saturday swiftly followed by a match against Croatia next Wednesday as their 2010 World Cup qualification campaign gets underway.
Last year, Setanta won the live rights to around 90 qualifying matches ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, including most of the away games for England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
ITV holds the rights to show England’s home international matches and a number of friendlies, including England's away match against Germany in November.
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