Fox Soccer Plus replaces Setanta Sports USA – Monday, March 1, 2010
Fox Soccer Plus, a new channel to work with the exiting Fox Soccer Channel, has officially launched and will replace Setanta Sports in the United States. Setanta Sports has already closed down in the United Kingdom and has had financial issues. Fox Soccer Channel, which is owned by Fox Entertainment Group, has been licensing rights to Setanta for the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League.
The new channel Fox Soccer Plus will carry virtually the same leagues and matches that Setanta Sports would broadcast if it was still around. These included the EPL, FA Cup, Carling Cup, Rugby, English Championship, and Serie A. The channel will remain similar to Setanta where there will be a monthly fee (usually around $15-20 a month). It will be available on Dish Network, DirecTV, Verizon FIOS TV, and Time Warner Cable.
Other cable providers have yet to reach a deal but you can visit the Fox Soccer Plus website here to view if its available in our area.
I think there’s something that Fox could learn from Setanta and that is that a pay channel might not be the best option. Fox Soccer Channel’s ratings for EPL matches have been strong (especially with the 18-35 male demographic) enough that they have been able to attract advertisers. Keeping the channel as one that requires a monthly fee will limit its reach and could drive more people to watch matches through the internet on p2p programs.
Soccer is growing in the United States and tv ratings for the EPL are rising and FSC has shown a channel can be successful. While FSC is not widely available or usually requires a purchase of sports tier, it has started to reach a decent amount of homes. If they went the route of Setanta, it’s unlikely the’d be at the level of success the are at now. The bottom line is if Fox Soccer Plus can be profitable as a pay channel it will stay that way but it’s a shame.
March 1, 2010 - 1:03 PM
I have been a Setanta USA subscriber for years, but I am not going to support the pay-per-channel approach anymore. If I don’t get the games that I want on TV, I will get’em online… for free!
Fox Soccer Plus… are you listening?
March 1, 2010 - 5:08 PM
Comcast isn’t on the list. Why don’t they carry straight out of the gate? Might be time to switch to DirecTV
March 2, 2010 - 4:56 AM
I had setanta for its full lifetime. However I am a rugby fan primarily and I am really disappointed that fox took over the contracts. There will be no place for fans of rugby, GAA and Aussie rules anymore. I like soccer but it seems like there is more soccer available here than in the UK. Diversity is good!
I wont be paying fox money to watch wall to wall soccer and no rugby. I get enough soccer on espn and fox soccer channel.
March 2, 2010 - 3:05 PM
i order Sentanta about 6 months back so i could watch some rugby and the ueafa champions league game that wernt on fsc or foxs, and have fs+ take over sentanta wont be that bad for rugby fans i mean they will show abotu the same amount of rugby games that sentanta did, but they just add some soccer games replays where as sentanta replayed rugby games
all in all good takeover since i was already paying for sentanta might as well pay for fs+
March 2, 2010 - 8:14 PM
@Bob: Fox Soccer Plus is showing Rugby; Heineken cup, The Guinness Premiership and one more. I think the only Rugby that is not covered is Six Nations. So rejoice and be cheerful
March 2, 2010 - 11:47 PM
So far from what I can see it’s just a carbon copy of the standard Fox Soccer channel.. Even worse I’m paying premium pricing to watch the same shows with no HD…. What’s that about? I don’t need another low res channel showing re runs of Fox soccer news & sky sports news….. Are they serious….
March 3, 2010 - 7:53 PM
If Fox don’t stop broadcasting the results of the game on ticker tape while the game is being shown, I hope people start cancelling their subscriptions. if I want to know the result of a game without watching it on TV, I’ll just look up the score on the internet.
March 3, 2010 - 8:42 PM
setanta sports was horrible they never brought anything good, i was soo happy wen fsc+ took over setanta, id dint kno what was happening but i didnt care because ive been want ing fox soccer for a year but my parents were to cheap to get it but now this happened which is great
March 3, 2010 - 9:37 PM
I looked forward to eventually getting Setanta for years. One of the main reasons I switched from Comcast to Verizon was in anticipation of finally seeing lots of rugby. Sure, the new Fox Soccer Plus channel has some rugby- but what about some of the best rugby in the world, that from the southern hemisphere?! I don’t want to watch mid-level club rugby from the UK. I want to see international matches! Six Nations, Tri-Nations, World Cup, etc. That is what I pay $180 per year for! I agree that FSC Plus seems to be a carbon copy of FSC, with a couple of the cheaper rugby games thrown in a couple of hours per week. Don’t think I will be keeping my subscription.
March 4, 2010 - 12:23 AM
I just can’t believe it. I am a total rugby fan. Already dropped is all southern hemisphere rugby including tri nations. Seems a lot like the original Fox Sports when it became Fox Soccer. All rugby eliminated over time. Noticed it does not say anything about the six nations coverage either. Will that be covered?? Does anyone know when the Magners or Guiness contracts are up for renewal. My guess is that they will not be renewed at that time (only a guess). Time to subscribe to mediazone.com again.
March 4, 2010 - 10:09 AM
CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF WE ARE GETTING SCOTTISH FOOTBALL LIKE WHAT WE GOT FROM SETANTA..PLEASE ANSWER RSVP……
March 4, 2010 - 10:11 AM
CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF WE ARE GETTING SCOTTISH SOCCER FROM FOX SOCCER PLUS…………..
March 4, 2010 - 7:33 PM
What about the Gaa games? We finally just got setanta sports at our bar for the 6-nations and other rugby and especially for the Gaa games and now it is gone. Who will show the Gaa games and how do we get it. Will foxsoccerplus show them? Please help
March 4, 2010 - 9:55 PM
They don’t list the SPL on the Fox Soccer Plus website as one of the leagues the will show.
March 7, 2010 - 4:53 PM
Please do not lie FSC+ by saying virtually the same programming as Setanta !! this is outrageous to say this all you have is all the region of great britain (england) soccer and Serie A we are losing 3 games of the french league per Week !! i don’t see Bundesliga or la ligua or russian league and whatever i forget to mention!!
You are just being dishonnest and if you are not a british or italian you are losing with this change big time !!!!!!!!
S. Adam, Dallas TX .
March 8, 2010 - 11:01 AM
Well, as I said I canceled Setanta USA, but Direct TV is offering FS+ for free. Nice move!!!
March 8, 2010 - 1:10 PM
It sucks!!! I REALLY liked Setanta even if it did cost $14.95/month. Setanta had a LOT of diversity, GAA, Australian Rules Football, Southern Hemisphere Rugby with competition such as Super 14, Currie Cup, Air New Zealand and Tri-Nations rugby ALL are GONE!!! All that remains is the Northern Hemispheric rugby and its not even clear if Six Nations will be on the menue. Also we will not be getting the 3 French Football League games per week as well as Russian Football League. All n all it really sucks BIGTIME and I’m UPSET!!!
March 21, 2010 - 10:40 AM
My 3 month free preview of Setanta ends March 31. I don’t think I’ll be keeping it as there was a lot more diverse content with Setanta.
March 27, 2010 - 11:31 AM
The claim by Fox Soccer Plus that their line-up will look just like the previous Setanta broadcasts in the US clearly is untrue. I see little difference from the regular Fox Soccer Channel line-up – its basically an English soccer channel. I do not see the SPL or enough Rugby to support their claim. Obviously it’s just an advertising bluff. If enough people cancel their service, as I am doing, perhaps Fox will not take us for ignorant fools.
March 27, 2010 - 4:36 PM
Australian Rules Football! Fox Soccer Plus doesn’t seem to be broadcasting Aussie Football either. Fox Soccer Plus is NO Setanta Sports. Is my only option to cancel FS+ ?
April 6, 2010 - 4:19 PM
I’m pretty pleased with fox soccer+. First off I live in an area where I was unable to get setana sports, so now being able to get the new FSC+ is a big bonus. We get in in HD too, and looks great. And the cost of it is really cheap, it cost me an extra $5 a month!!!
Not a big rugby fan, so for my taste there seems to be plenty of in on the channel. I’m glad that I now able to see some coca cola championship games on there. All in all I’m pleased with the channel
April 14, 2010 - 2:24 AM
The last guy is obviously a stoolie paid to comment on these boards. FS plus is a cash grab – a big joke – and it is most certainly not at all cool. Why would anyone pay for Fox Soccer Channel again? FSC is the hackiest thing out to begin with and everyone knows this.
April 20, 2010 - 3:37 PM
I subscribed to Setanta for the SPL games. Apparently now Fox Soccer Channel Plus won’t show these games. I will definitely cancel Fox Soccer Channel Plus. Good Riddens!
May 9, 2010 - 8:40 PM
Dear Sir or Madam!
Information from the Fox Channel Plus regarding their takeover and that everything will be the same is misleading and disengenious. I have done quite a bit of research on Foxe’s assertions.
I have now decided to get the Gaa games on -line.
Thanks for nothing Fox.
Tip: Try this link; www. Setanta.com/i/us
You will be pleasantly surprised.
Lets go Rebels.
May 19, 2010 - 11:53 PM
I am not sure I agree 100%. But I know that Dish Network customer service is the worst! I have been on hold now for 30 minutes and I have nobody to complain at apart from darn discussion boards I’m reading. I need to get a life