Setanta matches put up for auction

Beleaguered broadcaster Setanta Sports faces having its prized 46 live Premier League football matches put up for auction if it doesn’t make its debt payments by this Friday. That is the last day the Premier League is prepared to put off payment of the rest of the £30m Setanta owes it for the rights to its football coverage.

Bids for the rights for the matches in the 2009-10 season need to be in by Monday June 22, although if Setanta comes up with the necessary funds on Friday, bidders will be notified that the matches will revert to their original owner.

Likely buyers are thought to be satellite broadcaster BSkyB and Disney-owned US sports network ESPN.

The plan comes as Setanta continues to fight to save itself from bankruptcy. It still owes £20m of its original £30m obligation to the Premier League as well as £3m to the Scottish premier League and various other short-term funding requirements.

Small shareholder Access Industries, owned by US billionaire Len Blavatnik has announced that it is prepared to invest £20m for 51 per cent of the company. Big-Brother maker Endemol is also reportedly mulling a bid.

After the interest became known, Setanta paid £10m of its original debt to the Premier League and it has now started taking subscriptions again, after stopping in recent days.

All eyes are on this Friday, however, when the company needs to put a deal on the table or face losing its matches and with them its battle against bankruptcy.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Lex, FT: "In the UK, BSkyB and Setanta, the pay TV groups, recently agreed to pay 4 per cent more for Premier League broadcast rights than previously. But given Setanta’s possible bankruptcy, it is likely that bidding tension for future rights will slacken, and prices with it. Then the five-fold inflation-adjusted return on investment Manchester United made on Ronaldo, or the 700 per cent return AC Milan made on Kaka, would become trades of the past."

James Robinson, the Guardian: "The Premier League is spooked by Setanta's recent difficulties, so it is inviting offers for the 46 games Setanta is due to screen next season as a precautionary measure. The first Premier League games of 2009/10 are only two months away, and it wants to ensure it has a broadcaster partner in place by then. … Losing them would be a hammer blow from which the company would struggle to recover." ·