Disney's ESPN wins English soccer UK TV rights

By Kate Holton

LONDON (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co-owned sports network ESPN has won British rights to show 46 live English Premier League soccer matches for the 2009/10 season and 23 matches for the following three years for an undisclosed fee.

ESPN won the hastily arranged auction for the rights after the previous owner, privately owned Irish group Setanta, was forced to give them up after missing a contractual payment.

ESPN said it plans to make its coverage as widely available as possible, across multiple pay-TV platforms, and has already agreed for its coverage to be retailed by British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc, or BSkyB, to residential and commercial customers.

"This is a huge step for our business, and we look forward to working with the Premier League, football clubs and distributors to bring UK sports fans all the excitement they expect," said Lynne Frank, ESPN Managing Director in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

For the 2009/10 season, dominant pay-TV firm BSkyB will show 92 games and ESPN 46. For the following three years, BSkyB will show 115 and ESPN the remaining 23.

The announcement caps another torrid week for Setanta, which has teetered on the brink of administration all month.

Setanta, which employs around 430 people, hit trouble after failing to secure sufficient subscribers to cover the cost of its sports rights.

It has 1.2 million direct subscribers but needs nearer 1.9 million to break even, according to analysts. Many of those customers are now expected to desert the broadcaster, however, after its loss of the high-profile English League games.

A potential investor in the group also walked away from a rescue deal on Friday, leaving the group's future in serious doubt.

Setanta won the rights in 2006 to break BSkyB's hold on English soccer, agreeing to pay 392 million pounds over three seasons from 2007.

The League declined to give a figure for the new deal on Monday, but analysts had said they expected the terms to be lower.

"The Premier League is extremely pleased to have added ESPN as a UK rights holder," Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said.

"They have a formidable worldwide reputation and experience in sports and I am sure we will enjoy a long and fruitful relationship with them.

"I would like to thank ESPN, as well as all the other broadcasters who submitted bids, for their professionalism and effort in engaging in our sales process at such short notice."

Earlier on Monday, the Scottish Premier League said it too had taken its rights back from Setanta after the sports broadcaster missed a 3 million pound payment.