ESPN is in effect paying the entire monies left outstanding from the Setanta collapse, amounting to £90 million for the rights for 46 matches next season and about £155 million for the rights for 23 matches a season for the three years from 2010-11 to 2012-13. Setanta had already paid about £40 million in advance fees for the 2009-10 season, out of its scheduled £131 million fee, and had made a deposit of £4-5 million on its £159 million deal for the 2010-11 to 2012-13 period.
ESPN has already agreed a distribution deal with BSkyB’s Sky Digital platform and is expected to rebrand and re-price its ESPN America channel. It is understood that BSkyB will also handle the production for the ESPN matches.