If you’re like me and you’ve been struggling to find ways to enjoy the unbridled wonder that is Australian Football here in the States, you may be in luck. Setanta Sports, the satellite network dedicated to bringing European sports to American audiences, has struck a deal with the AFL to air three matches per week, including up to two live matches, here in the U.S.
Setanta Sports carries just about every code of football played outside of North America — soccer, rugby union, rugby league, Aussie Rules and Gaelic football. If it’s A.) football, B.) played outside and C.) not gridiron, you’ll find it on Setanta.
At first, though, I wasn’t too happy with this deal for a couple of reasons. For starters, Setanta ain’t cheap; it costs about $15 per month. On top of that, I have Dish Network, so even if I wanted it, I couldn’t get Setanta. It’s only available on DirecTV and ITVN, the latter of which is an IPTV solution that requires a separate set-top box and has no DVR. That wasn’t going to work, and every time I asked Dish Network when they were going to get Setanta, they responded with… well, let’s just say you could hear the crickets.
So I fired off an email to Setanta Sports asking when I might be able to get their network on Dish Network. To my surprise, they emailed me back within two hours:
WE hope to have a channel on Dish by July/Aug but nothing is absolutely confirmed yet. Please keep an eye on the site.
Well, now. Perhaps I may have some hope here after all. The timing on that deal would be sweet, too, since both the AFL Finals Series, the All-Ireland Finals and the Rugby World Cup all go off in September.
I hope this deal actually happens. I don’t want to find myself getting kicked out of the pub after closing time and end up missing the last quarter of the AFL Grand Final again.
3 responses so far ↓
1 how about us cable peons? // Apr 6, 2007 at 7:56 pm
I can’t get satellite where I live. When, oh when, is Setanta going to be on cable? I keep pestering Comcast, but so far nothing.
I do have the ITVN service, but it isn’t very good picture quality, and internet latency problems occasionally make it useless, and they no longer have VOD. I won’t renew when my one year commitment to ITVN is up.
2 Rob de Santos // Apr 7, 2007 at 8:40 am
Thanks for the link to our site, Dave. Please be assured that AFANA has been pestering Setanta, too. We very much know that the they need to be on DISH, Comcast, etc. We have an entry on our TV FAQ on this point. The Setanta folks are good and they are trying hard.
As for ITVN, most people have had good experiences but it is cutting edge and works for some and not others. It has at least given those without DirecTV an option until things improve.
3 Dave // Apr 7, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Y’know, I’d be a lot more interested in ITVN if it came with more functionality. At the very least, it needs a DVR. If there are no plans for that, there’s no point in me getting it. I’d rather wait for Setanta on DISH. At least then I can record a match with a midnight kickoff, then watch it in the morning.