Setanta holds crunch SPL meeting

Setanta Sports may have broadcast its last live football

The board of football broadcaster Setanta is meeting a week after the company failed to pay the Scottish Premier League (SPL) £3m.

The SPL has found £3m to distribute to the 12 member clubs from its own funds to tide them over.

Setanta also has a much larger outstanding payment due to the Premier League in England - about £40m.

Unless backers agree to supply more cash, Setanta is thought certain to be forced to call in administrators.

The company was due to make the final payment of the season on Monday 1 June for its Scottish football match coverage.

Last week the SPL held two board meetings before deciding to find £3m themselves to support the 12 Scottish premier league clubs.

Unable to pay £3m in Scotland, Setanta face much bigger financial hurdles later this month, when a £40m payment to the Premier League falls due.

The broadcaster showed England's world cup qualifier on Saturday, but that may be the last time Setanta is involved.

A shared deal with ITV saw them secure rights for England and FA Cup matches for £425m.

Scottish options

One option for the SPL would be to terminate the contract with Setanta, but such a move would leave the SPL forced to find another broadcasting partner.

Their weakened position would mean a reduced financial deal.

Setanta first won the rights to broadcast live SPL matches in competition with previous rights holder BBC Scotland in 2004.

However, it is unlikely that a free-to-air terrestrial broadcaster could now come close to matching the kind of money offered by Setanta for live coverage of Scotland's top-flight.

BBC Scotland has been broadcasting SPL match highlights on television and the internet while looking to buy up rights to live matches involving Scottish clubs in European competitions.

Are you a Setanta subscriber? Send us your comments using the form below.

The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.

Terms & Conditions