EDIT: I wrote the original version of this post on the back of a couple of messages stating that ESPN America was down. Judging by other comments on the web, it appears as though it may still be broadcasting (I’m not a subscriber so can’t check myself). I’ve amended the post accordingly.
British baseball fans have already started commenting on the news that Setanta Sports has been taken off the air this evening.
Setanta Sports finally went into administration today after more than a month of uncertainty over the company’s future. The administrators have pulled the plug immediately, meaning that channels such as ESPN America and Racing UK, that were sold to customers as part of the Setanta Sports package, will have their outlet taken away.Â
At time of writing, ESPN America has still not published any information on their website to let North American sports fans know what is happening to the channel. Racing UK have already clarified their position, informing horse racing fans that they will become a standalone subscription channel, with existing subscribers enjoying free access until the new set-up goes live.Â
It seems likely that ESPN America will also take this approach, although ESPN’s recent acquisition of rights to Premier League games may prompt the media giant into launching an ESPN subscription package that includes ESPN America and ESPN Classics.Â
Whichever way they decide to go, ESPN America has known for a while that Setanta’s future was bleak so many of the necessary discussions would have already taken place. Hopefully they will be able to provide an update fairly soon. If you hear any news, please share it via the comments function.
10 comments
Good news as ESPN America’s site this afternoon have announced that Sky Viewers (with the Sky news package) will get the channel included in this pack for nothing. If you dont have the news package it will only cost you £1.
Virgin viewers though will have the option of buying it for £10 per month.
Doesnt say whether this is a temp thing or permanant though.
Hi Paul. Yes, I was just about to post that. Looks like fantastic news for Sky subscribers and it will put North American sports in front of a much larger potential audience.
Full details here:
http://www.espnamerica.com/portal/systemcontent/howtoget::uk
At the start of the season I had considered subscribing to Sentanta at £12pm + £14 connection fee and tied in for 12 months, just to watch ESPN America!
Instead I paid £60 for MLB TV for the season and now have ESPN ‘free’ as I’m already on the Sky News ‘package’.
Happy days!
Very encouraging for Sky viewers – will open out baseball to a larger audience immediately. Bit rough on Virgin customers.
Well done to ESPN America – lets hope it is a permanent arrangement!
ESPN America has also replaced Setanta 1’s spot in the BT Vision channel lineup. Viewers who subscribed to Setanta on BT Vision therefore can watch baseball… for now at least.
Good news. Thanks for the info Tim.
Good news, British baseball fans! Is this a permanent arrangement?
Hi Richard. We don’t know for sure, although after all the uncertainty, you would hope that ESPN America would have warned people if these were just temporary measures.
Excellent news, I stumbled across the White SOX game last night and it certainly made my evening, let’s hope it is here to stay in this format!
Delighted to discover that ESPN now pops up “free” as part of my Sky package. I assume when the English Premier League season starts it will once again become a subscription channel – but let’s enjoy it while it lasts!