The English Premier League is preparing to put the broadcasting rights held by troubled firm Setanta back up for sale if the Irish group does not pay its latest instalment by Friday, it said today.
A source familiar with the situation told Reuters that Setanta was hopeful it could refinance by Friday and therefore be able to meet the League's obligations.
Setanta, which declined to comment today, has been locked in emergency refinancing talks in the last two weeks and had suspended signing up new subscribers.
It hit trouble after failing to secure the number of subscribers needed to cover the cost of its sports rights.
The Premier League said in a statement it had "notified Setanta that if necessary the existing licence agreement between us will be terminated, coming into effect if Setanta does not meet certain contractual requirements of the Premier League on or before Friday June 19th, 2009.”
The League said it would, with the agreement of Setanta, issue today an Invitation to tender for the rights to other broadcasters. The Disney-owned sports network ESPN is expected to bid for any new rights.
The sports broadcaster said in a statement on its website today that it has resumed taking subscriptions for its services. The company temporarily ceased accepting new customers while it was in talks with investors.
Earlier this month Setanta missed a £3 million payment to the Scottish Premier League earlier this month and is due to pay the English Premier League more than £30 million for the right to show 46 live matches in the 2009/10 season.
Investment group Access Industries has submitted a plan to buy a majority stake in Setanta and the group could also stagger its payments to get over the difficult period.
“Although the Premier League would like to provide Setanta with as much time as possible to re-arrange its finances, the start of the 2009/10 season is only two months away, with the release of fixtures imminent,” the league said in a statement.
Additional reporting Reuters/Guardian
