I was wondering if anyone knows what the state of play is, regarding the re-tendering of the Setanta Sports tv deal, from 2010, for Guinness Premiership Rugby Union? Setanta bid £54 million to share it with Sky. Will it be retendered, and if so, will the RFU get anything near to that £54 million?
It will of course be put out to tender again, but back in June the RFU said they wouldn't rush into it. I believe along with the final and a semi-final, Setanta had two contracts for a game each week, the first being 11 first choice games and 11 second choice games (Sky have a similar package), with the other package being third choice games.
There's no doubt they'll find a bidder for the first package, but whether they'll sell the third choice package too remains to be seen - in a way I think it might be better not to as 3 out of 6 games each week being broadcast is a bit much IMO.
I also think if the RFU had any sense they'd try to sell the final to a terrestrial channel (presumably ITV would have the first option if they have the highlights) to try and raise the exposure of the Premiership Final.
ESPN will be looking for material to fill the 23 EPL fixture loss, they're already runing TOP 14 games so Premiership Rugby would be a good fit. Would expect an SPL solution with some matches reverting to BSB and the rest on ESPN.
Are we any further forward on knowing what's happening with the deals then? I know Five broadcast the guinness premiership highlights for one season. Unlike ITV, at least Five had their commentators at the ground the game was taking place.
Still no news. Last year the deal was announced around mid-December, so perhaps that's the sort of timeframe again for this season, but I've seen no reports of the rights being put out to tender again, so wouldn't be surprised if they've just gone begging to Sky to take on at least half of the games. I wouldn't be too surprised if the 3rd package was scrapped.