Setanta, Fox Soccer Renew FA Rights

LOS ANGELES, May 20:
Setanta Sports and Fox Soccer Channel have announced the renewal of their U.S.
broadcasting rights deals with The Football Association.

The new agreements run
from the 2008/09 through 2011/12 seasons. Setanta Sports and Fox Soccer Channel
have agreed to a formula under which games will be selected for each network to
run exclusively. In addition to live matches, both channels will have rights to
ancillary FA programming, including preview and review shows, archive matches
and magazine programs.

Fox Soccer Channel’s FA
Cup coverage will conclude with its first-ever live broadcast of The FA Cup
Final. Fox Soccer Channel also retains rights to the FA Community Shield, an
annual match between the reigning FA Cup champions (this year, Portsmouth) and
The Barclays Premier League titleholder (Manchester United). In addition, the
agreement includes a selection of live and exclusive home matches involving the
English Senior and Under-21 National Teams, encompassing coverage of England’s
2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying contests as well as international home friendly
matches.

The broadcast package also
grants Fox Soccer Channel new-media rights to its full-game package, plus
shared rights to video clips of all England and FA Cup matches across
television, Internet/broadband and mobile media platforms via a content-sharing
agreement with Setanta Sports North America.

Setanta Sports will select
matches to televise on its premium channel, including the FA Cup finals each
May. The new deal for the U.S. market starts in August with the season opening
FA Community Shield. The Setanta agreement also includes a selection of live
and exclusive home matches involving the England team in the 2010 World Cup
qualifiers. Setanta has also secured all of the rights in Canada, where the
service launched last summer.

—By Mansha Daswani