Setanta Sports North America has secured the live television rights for the 2007 IRB Rugby World Cup, which takes place this fall in France.
Setanta will carry all 48 matches live from the September 7 opening game through the October 20 final.
"The World Cup ranks as one of the world’s most watched sporting events, behind only the Olympics and [soccer's] FIFA World Cup," said Roger Hall, CEO of Setanta Sports North America.
In addition to carrying the matches via residential and commercial outlets (such as bars and restaurants) as well as via IPTV and broadband, Setanta is also working on mobile rights.
Setanta gets English, Spanish, Italian and Japanese language rights. Setanta’s main household carrier in the U.S. is DirecTV, on which it is available via a separate subscription basis.
