London, 29 February 2008: The British Basketball League (BBL) and Setanta Sports, in partnership with PA Sport, have announced an exclusive deal for the remainder of the 2008 BBL season.   BBL games for the 2008 season will be broadcast each week exclusively live on Setanta Sports, commencing with the BBL Trophy Final between the Guildford Heat and Newcastle Eagles this Sunday, March 2, 2008.

After Sunday’s game, the new deal means Setanta’s subscribers will be able to see a live BBL Championship game every Wednesday evening at 7.30pm on Setanta Sports 2 for the remainder of the regular season.   Live coverage of the post-season playoffs will include a selected BBL Championship Playoff quarter-final, and the BBL Championship Playoff Final on Sunday 4 th May 2008.

Trevor East, Director of Sport at Setanta Sports, said:   “Our exclusive deal with the BBL adds yet more value to our sports pack offering.   This is an incredibly exciting season and we are delighted to be screening the concluding games live for British basketball fans.”

The BBL Chairman, Paul Blake, comments, “On behalf of the BBL, I would like to express our delight at having agreed a new television deal with Setanta Sports, and to have driven this deal in tandem with PA Sport.  

“Setanta Sports is a highly reputable sports channel and this partnership is a huge boost for British basketball.   Furthermore, we believe that we have a great deal to offer Setanta Sports in terms of the high-quality viewing that such a fast and exciting sport delivers.   With the growing interest in basketball in the UK, we are confident that we can enhance Setanta’s admirable portfolio of sports coverage.

“This fantastic opportunity to showcase British basketball only adds to the excitement around the run-in to one of the closest BBL seasons I can remember.”

The schedule for the remainder of the season is as follows:

For information on how to subscribe, go to: setanta.com or call 08712 10 20 30. Virgin Media, BT Vision and Tiscali customers should contact their operator.

Setanta Sports

Setanta Sports is a leading international pay-TV sports broadcaster operating nine channels in the UK, Ireland, North America and Australia. Founded in 1992, its premium sports content is available to more than 50 million digital homes worldwide.

Setanta operates more sports channels than any other broadcaster in the UK and Ireland.
Setanta Sports is the only broadcaster of premium sports on digital terrestrial (Freeview). The Setanta Sports 1 channel, featuring the best of Setanta’s premium live content, is available on Freeview boxes and digital TVs with viewing card slots.

The Setanta Sports Pack is available to satellite and cable customers and is made up of the following channels:

Setanta Sports 1

Setanta Sports 2

Setanta Golf

Racing UK

Racing World*

NASN (North American Sports Network)*

Celtic TV

Rangers TV

LFC TV

Arsenal TV*

Setanta Sports is also available online, live and on demand, via Setanta by Broadband, featuring all Setanta’s leading content offered on Setanta Sports 1, Setanta Sports 2 and Setanta Golf, allowing sports fans to access at home, work or elsewhere.

For a full list of Setanta Sports’ exclusively live sporting content and fixture details, please visit www.setanta.com. Content includes Barclays Premier League football, Clydesdale Bank Premier League, Blue Square Premier, US PGA Golf, Live Magners League rugby, top-flight boxing, Ultimate Fighting Championship and action from some of Europe’s best football leagues. From 2008, Setanta’s exclusively live content will include the FA Cup, England international friendlies and 2010 World Cup qualifiers involving England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Setanta Sports is available from £9.99 a month, with no annual contract required. For the latest pricing offers on any platform, please visit www.setanta.com or call 08712 10 20 30.

Setanta Sports is also joint owner with Virgin Media of Setanta Sports News, the new 24-hour sports news channel, available free-to-air on the Virgin Media platform, and also on satellite, covering all the top sports stories from the UK and abroad.   Setanta Sports News provides viewers with the breaking sports headlines that matter every 20 minutes, delivered by a pool of presenters and multi-skilled reporters in the field, as well as supported by regular views and opinions from fan correspondents across the UK.   Setanta Sports News EPG number on Virgin Media is 518. The satellite EPG number is 435.

*not available to Virgin Media customers