Setanta Sports is a sports broadcaster that is based in Ireland that operates 12 channels in 24 different countries. It was launched in 1990 to broadcast sports events to Ireland and nearby countries. It has expanded and now features live sports events to English-speaking countries all over the world via avenues like DirecTV, Dish Network and the like. Headquarters are currently in Dublin, Ireland.

The channel allegedly takes its name from a legendary Irish warrior named Setanta, who according to the legend, played and was a master at one of the oldest known field sports, hurling.

Setanta broadcast a variety of sporting events, including boxing, hurling, darts, rugby, Australian rules football, basketball, golf and cricket. They recently paid to acquire the rights to the UK Premier League, which signaled a challenge to Sky Sports, the primary Pay-TV sports provider in the UK since Pay-TV was started in the UK in the mid-80’s.

The network has since expanded its offerings to include Canada and Australia in 2007, tailoring its coverage in Australia to broadcast the most popular sports in that region.

Other deals include: a 3 year deal with Frank Warren Sports Network to make Setanta the primary broadcaster of fights involving various popular boxers locally, including Gavin Rees and Matt Skelton, a large deal to broadcast Scottish Premier League soccer matches through the 2014 season, as well as large money deals to televise the Asia Cup as well as the FA Cup matches, and World Cup qualifying matches.

Setanta reportedly wants to launch an HD version of the service in the UK, possibly in August of 2008, and plans to broadcast many Premier League matches in HD. They also recently launched Arsenal TV, a channel that primarily follows the Arsenal soccer club. It is similar to the earlier launched Rangers TV, which follows and covers the Ranger soccer team.