Irish pay-television broadcaster Setanta Sports has agreed a carriage deal with UK telecommunications company BT for its soon-to-be-launched BT Sport service.
From August 1, the BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN channels will join the Setanta Sports pack. The deal brings an additional 38 English Premier League football matches, including 18 top pick games, to Setanta’s existing 33-game package.
Other sports content covered by the deal includes English FA Cup, Scottish Premier League and German Bundesliga football, English Premiership rugby union and mixed martial arts series the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Setanta Sports’ marketing operations director, Brian Quinn, said: “This content is a real game changer for Setanta. It’s not just going from 33 to 71 Premier League games that is exciting, it is the massive step-up in the quality of games that will really make the difference for our customers. Also, having the channels available to our customers in HD is a great addition.”