The Footie Fool

Irish TV broadcaster Setanta, who has the broadcast rights for the EPL this season, will be announcing their EPL broadcast schedule on Monday. According to The Guardian article, Setanta will be carrying 46 EPL games live this season.

Now, Setanta is still not available on any cable package in Canada, but word is that The Score has sub-licensed EPL games back to Setanta for the upcoming season, leaving me to speculate that we will see some kind of Setanta presence in Canada this year, hopefully in time for the start of the season in 2 weeks. After all, why would they pay the Score for the broadcast rights in Canada if they were not planning on carrying the games in Canada?

Rob Brodie at the Ottawa Sun has also written about the EPL/Score/Setanta confusion. Really, the whole thing looks so shaky and tentative that I’ll be shocked if I get to see any Saturday games on any sports network in Canada this year.

At any rate, if there is no Setanta channel in Canada, we still have the Setanta Broadband option.

In other Canadian TV soccer news, The Score has announced that along with their Sunday EPL coverage, James Sharman will be hosting a new soccer show called The Footy Show. The new show will keep viewers on top of international soccer including previews and recaps of all of the week’s EPL matches. The Footy Show will air Fridays at 6:30 p.m. EST and Sundays at 10:30 a.m. EST, with recaps Sunday at 6 p.m. EST and Monday at 6:30 p.m. EST.