Setanta Sports Agree Three-Year Deal with Basketball Ireland to Show National Cup

Irish Sports broadcaster Setanta has signed a three-year deal with Basketball Ireland to broadcast coverage of the National Cup finals.

The three-year deal will see the sports broadcaster provide live coverage of the National Cup finals and a regular magazine programme, while there is the possibility the channel could also show the National League finals.

This year’s Men’s SuperLeague National Cup finals will see UL Eagles take on UCC Demons on Friday, February 3, while UL are also represented in the Women’s SuperLeague National Cup finals where they will face holders DCU Mercy.

“Setanta are delighted to broadcast the finals. Basketball is an incredibly popular sport in Ireland with huge participation levels among men and women so it would have been a shame if the finals were not televised,” Colin Morgan, Setanta CEO, commented.

As Ireland’s only dedicated sports broadcaster we have the resources to accommodate important Irish sport in our schedules.  We expect this to be just the beginning of a long relationship with Basketball Ireland and we look forward to working together.”

Basketball Ireland Secretary General Bernard O’Byrne has worked hard to secure television rights for the competition and he is delighted at the prospect of working with Setanta.

“This is a tremendous day for the sport. I applaud Setanta Sports’ vision in recognising that basketball is one of our national games and is played by tens of thousands of people in every community across the 32 counties of Ireland,” O’Byrne said.

“I urge all the Basketball community to support Setanta Sports in their efforts as we look forward to a fantastic night of basketball on Friday, February 3rd at the National Basketball Arena.

“I would like to pay credit to Setanta Sports for ensuring that our National Cup Finals will receive the live coverage the competition so richly deserves. I would also like to acknowledge the excellent support of the Irish Sports Council, for their role in making this happen.”