So if you don’t have Setanta, and can’t make it to a pub that’s showing Setanta, the only coverage you’re going to have of England’s World Cup qualifiers against Andorra on Saturday, and Croatia next week is going to be goal clips on the news. There is, of course, radio coverage too.
Media Guardian reports this morning that Setanta still hasn’t sold terrestrial highlights of the games to either ITV or the BBC. They’re fulminating that the offers they’re getting don’t exceed what the stations paid for Champions’ League qualifiers. Last week BBC Three showed Arsenal’s game against FC Twente (effectively a dead rubber since Arsenal were a comfortable 2-0 from the first leg, and they won on the night 4-0 to go through 6-0 overall), while ITV had the more attractive proposition of Liverpool’s must-win game against Standard Liege which ended with a last minute extra-time goal. But these were live games and thus more valuable.
I would have previously said that Setanta will come to a last minute deal to sell on terrestrial coverage, but with the bigger of the two games being next Wednesday’s Croatia fixture, I’m not so sure. Setanta desperately need those subscribers – it’s never clear how many they really have, and what price they’re paying. So I don’t think that this time we’re going to see the games on terrestrial.
I would hope that the FA are a little embarrassed about this. They’ve just entered into a big new deal with ITV and Setanta, and yet here are one of their partners effectively denying much of the football viewing public the chance to see even highlights. Of course Setanta are perfectly within their rights to do what they like, but I think using phrases like “emotional blackmail” makes it obvious that we’re not going to see any capitulation from them.
A sorry state of affairs for the national game…