The Irish TV sports company Setanta has been linked with a possible bid for English Premiership football rights after poaching a leading BSkyB executive.
Setanta yesterday confirmed it had hired Trevor East as its new director of sport.
He is expected to play a central role in acquiring major sports rights for the company, although there has been no official comment about the Premiership, one of the most lucrative sporting properties in the world.
The current deal between BSkyB and the Premiership comes up for renewal in 2007 but it is unlikely to be repeated again because the EU has asked the football clubs to offer the rights to more than one broadcaster on competition grounds.
However, the cost of the rights mean that some companies will not be able to bid. The last time, BSkyB was prepared pay in excess of £1 billion (€1.4 billion) for the rights.
It is understood that several companies are still likely to bid at these high levels, including BBC, ITV, cable operators NTL and Telewest and possibly US sports broadcaster ESPN.
Setanta has also appointed one of Mr East's former colleagues, ex-BSkyB finance director Richard Brooke, as director of corporate development. The company has also recruited Mark O'Meara, chief executive of broadband video firm Servecast, as its chief operating officer.
Mr East has been with BSkyB for the past 10 years. As deputy managing director of Sky Sports he worked alongside Vic Wakeling, manging director of Sky Sports, who is regarded by many in the television industry as one of the most influential TV executives in Britain.
Mr East said yesterday: "I have had 10 very good years at BskyB, where I was privileged to be part of a great team that built up one of the world's best sports broadcasting businesses. I believe Setanta has the same potential."
Leonard Ryan, a co-founder and chief executive of Setanta, said: "The appointment of Trevor East will make a big impact on our ability to continue this growth and develop our channel operations further."
This is not the first time Setanta has poached a high-profile TV sports executive. Last year, it hired the former head of RTÉ sport, Niall Cogley, to run its Irish sports channel.
Setanta's operations are now spread over Britain, Ireland and the United States. In Britain, the company's main asset is the Scottish Premier League. In Ireland, the company runs it own sports channel. Setanta also has the rights to broadcast various sporting events into the United States.
In Europe, the company has a 50 per cent share in NASN (the North American Sports Network), which is a TV channel focusing on American sports aimed at ex-pats living in Europe.
