ESPN Reportedly To Bid On Setanta EPL Package If Available

ESPN Could Bid For Rights To Show EPL Games If Setanta Fails To Meet Deadline

ESPN will "bid for the rights to show" '09-10 EPL games in the U.K. and Ireland if Setanta fails to meet a Friday deadline for a $16.3M (all figures U.S.) payment to the league and is "forced to relinquish them," according to a source cited by Garrahan & Davoudi of the FINANCIAL TIMES. ESPN in a statement said, "We are aware that the Premier League has issued an invitation to tender, for which the rights may or may not go to auction next Monday." The net "declined to confirm it would bid." Garrahan & Davoudi note ESPN in February missed out on the rights for the '10-13 package when they were auctioned, as BSkyB "picked up five packages of games and Dublin-based Setanta only one." Meanwhile, due diligence on N.Y.-based Access Industries Chair Len Blavatnik's offer to invest $32.5M and buy a 51% stake in Setanta "should be completed by Friday," and sources said that media production company Endemol has offered to put $8.1M into Setanta "in return for exclusive rights to produce all the football games." But a source said that Setanta "did not consider this to be an attractive offer but instead a 'last chance saloon' funding mechanism" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 6/17).

CLEARING THE WAY: In Manchester, Mark Sweney reports Balderton Capital General Partner Barry Maloney, whose company is a shareholder in Setanta, has "stepped down" from Setanta's BOD to "avoid a potential conflict of interest" with Blavatnik's rescue plan. Balderton Capital has a "stake in Top Up TV, which sells Setanta to digital terrestrial viewers," and Access Industries is a "major investor" in Top Up TV. Meanwhile, Top Up TV Founder David Chance reportedly "could get a Setanta board seat, or a wider advisory role, if a deal with Blavatnik can be done" (Manchester GUARDIAN, 6/17).