Setanta Allegedly Fails to Make SPL Payment

According to the Daily Record, Setanta failed to pay the final installment of this season’s SPL broadcasting deal yesterday, which was around £3 million. News of this has sent the top clubs into a panic.

It has been well-documented how bad the company is struggling after failing to secure further packages to air EPL games.

However this has now had a knock-on effect, and with SPL clubs relying heavily on the Irish Broadcaster’s money, they are all fearing the worst—even Celtic and Rangers.

Setanta was contracted to broadcast Scottish football until next year, but that deal, which brought in £14 million a year, was renegotiated to run until 2014 at a whopping £31 million a year.

The company has been working tirelessly to find solutions to their problems, but there are some within the SPL who fear their own financial situation will be hit badly.

Despite the uncertainty, SPL sources said they remain confident Setanta will find a way out of its troubles.

“Setanta will continue to talk to rights holders, investors, and other interested parties with a view to reaching a successful conclusion which will save the company,” a Setanta spokesman said.

The Old Firm and Aberdeen were against accepting Setanta’s deal, preferring to go instead with Sky. With the current issue with Setanta, they are being proved right.

Maybe it is time for the SPL to cancel the contracts with Setanta, especially if the broadcaster fails to make further payments, and sell the rights to another broadcast company, like ESPN, SKY, or the BBC.

Any such deal would see a reduction in their payments for the next few years, but at least the clubs would be safe in the knowledge that they would get paid.

It is time the clubs took the bull by the horns, rather than wait to see the outcome of the mess at Setanta.

They should contact other companies now before it is too late, and clubs start going to the wall.