Setanta on the Ropes

They came. They came to challenge Sky Sports.
They came to add another dimension to the viewing pleasures of football fans everywhere.
They came to offer more games, at a better price.
They failed.

Setanta took the Sky Sports model, copied it, and then sent it back out as their own idea, hoping to attract millions of subscribers. However, they soon realised that Sky's stranglehold over the footballing game, and the public, was something that could not be broken. In desperation, Setanta did everything possible to buy the rights to England games, FA Cup games, Scottish games, and more Premier League games than ever before.

However, their aim to beat Sky overshadowed common sense, and Setanta took it too far. They paid £125m for 4 seasons of exclusive coverage of the Scottish Premier League..something that Sky would never do. Why? Because, let's be honest, how many English football fans enjoy watching SPL games? Let's be honest, SPL games just aren't very popular.

Setanta also broke the bank to buy the rights to certain England games...what a mistake. What a shambles. The FA should never ever ever have allowed England games to move on to pay-per-view TV. Even Sky never did it. They realised its importance to the public and they wanted the games to be on BBC/ITV, free-to-air to the British public. In an angry response, fans turned their back on Setanta, many going to the pub to watch the England games instead of subscribing to Setanta.

Now?
Now the are in massive trouble. They can't find the money to pay the final installment (a meagre £3m) to the SPL board for the coverage this season. There are rumours going around that the England game on Setanta tomorrow will be the last England game that Setanta broadcast, because they just don't have the money.

This was the big chance for someone to challenge the authority and power that is Sky. Setanta failed. End of story.