Finally, what almost everyone thought would happen has happened. Setanta TV has made an official announcement that it will not broadcast UPL matches next season.
And here, perhaps, we have what is known in English as a "win-win" situation, meaning that it is beneficial to absolutely all parties. First, let's look at it from the perspective of the channel itself. Setanta won the tender for broadcasting UPL matches last year, but they promised the channel a single pool, i.e. the rights to show absolutely all matches. However, Dynamo, Dnipro-1, Zorya, Metalist and Rukh disagreed with this and started broadcasting their own home matches on Plus TV or even on their own YouTube channels. And after the Ukrainian court sided with them, it became clear that Setanta simply had no leverage over the "schismatics". In fact, the channel received a much worse product than the one it fought for, so its reluctance to continue is understandable.
The UPL as an organisation also cannot be satisfied with the current state of affairs. The almost mythical phrase "single pool" has not yet been realised in the more than a decade of its existence. So far, no channel or platform has been able to combine the broadcast of all matches in one hand. Setanta also decided at some point not to negotiate with the clubs, but simply to insist on its own way, which led to the current situation. Of course, no one is saying where the matches will be broadcast next season, but it can hardly be worse than it is now. Who knows, maybe the next attempt will be successful.
The situation for fans is not the best either. Of course, viewers would prefer to watch all the matches for free on YouTube, but even with Setanta's regular TV channels, there would be no problems or comments. But when Setanta started shoving live broadcasts onto its own online platform, which requires an additional UAH 109 per month, it became quite unpleasant. Moreover, by "coincidence", all of Dynamo's away games were included on the platform. It's funny to say, but it seemed as if the channel was simply taking revenge on Kyiv residents for the "split". And the cherry on top was the regular absence of commentators, even for the whole half. That is, you have already paid for that platform, but you still watch football with interruptions. One way or another, this could not go on for long, so the termination of cooperation between Setanta and the UPL was long overdue.
Ihor Tsvyk
