Online PPV For England Football Match After Setanta Collapse

England take on Spain in a friendly in February 2009

England fans won’t have to take out a pay TV subscription or trudge off to the pub to watch England’s next World Cup qualifier against Ukraine — they can pay to watch the whole thing online due to a new partnership between rights holder Kentaro and sports video operator Perform. UK newspaper sites are being asked to market the fixture in return for being able to show the match live on their websites as part of the revenue-sharing deal.

Kentaro bought the UK rights to the fixture from the Ukrainian football association in 2007 and signed up Irish sportscaster Setanta as the exclusive live broadcaster. But then Setanta’s UK arm went bust and collapsed in June leaving the fixture without a broadcaster — so Kentaro is tapping Perform for a hasty online solution.

According to Guardian.co.uk Perform will use its relationship with news publishers — almost every national newspaper hosts its e-player sports highlights widget — to show the England match on newspapers’ websites. Prices will range from £4.99 to £11.99, depending on how soon punters sign up.

Kentaro group’s CEO Philipp Grothe says in the release: “We have spoken to every traditional UK broadcaster and currently have no offer on the table. We therefore feel the internet delivers the most viable option to deliver an important England game directly to the fans.”

It’s the first time an England international has been streamed live online exclusively, so it’s a shame the clash in Kiev in on October 10 will lack any great public interest — England have already cruised to World Cup qualification, making the fixture somewhat meaningless.

But this is no anomaly: as broadcasters’ budgets get squeezed, clubs are looking to companies like Perform and Kentaro to broadcast the action online. When Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur couldn’t find broadcasters for their UEFA Cup away matches in November and December 2008 Perform stepped in to show the matches via PPV on the clubs’ websites. Longstanding broadcasters of less lucrative and expensive-to-cover European matches Five and ITV (LSE: ITV) have seen their bidding power sapped by losses and revenue drops — but the appetite for football viewing is undiminished.

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