SCP to buy GolTV

SCP Worldwide, which is owned by Dave Checketts, has made a deal to buy 80 percent of international football channel, GolTV, for $200 million, according to market sources.

SCP also owns the Major League Soccer franchise, Real Salt Lake. The agreement that will value the channel at USD 250 million has caused great concern in the industry because GolTV competes for MLS viewers.

Executives with some of the league's broadcasters said they were aware of the letter of intent and since they deem it inappropriate for one of the league's owner-operators to buy a network that competes directly with MLS media partners, they are preparing to make official complaints to the MLS offices.

MLS's official broadcasters are ABC/ESPN, Fox Sports, HDNet and Univision.

"Until we have a greater understanding of the proposed transaction, it is premature to comment," said MLS spokesman Dan Courtemanche.

SCP would not comment and a GolTV spokeswoman said the company's chief operating officer would comment, but he did not call by press time.

Checketts plans to create an international sports channel starting with GolTV, market sources said.

One of those sources said that according to an e-mail that was sent, Lehman Brothers and IMG have signed up as potential investors.

Checketts is also chairman of IMG Media, so it is not surprising that the sports marketing and media company is involved. IMG would also advise on programming acquisitions, sources said.

Officials from Lehman Brothers could not be reached for comment.

Financial sources said the reason SCP is seeking equity instead of debt is because GolTV loses money and borrowing against a money-losing venture would be costly. The deal is contingent on SCP raising the necessary funds.

Checketts has a long history in media. He ran Madison Square Garden and its MSG Network in the 1990's and recently invested in College Sports Television. CSTV co-founder, Chris Bevilacqua, now works for SCP, which also owns the St. Louis Blues in addition to Real Salt Lake.

Bevilacqua was with CSTV in November 2005 when that network was sold to Viacom/CBS for USD 325 million in stock.

Two South American football agents, Francisco Casal and Enzo Francescoli, whose Uruguayan company is called Tenfield Inc, own GOITV.

The network launched into a crowded market in November 2003 and already had Fox Sports en Español, Fox Sports Latin America and Fox Soccer Channel. ESPN Deportes launched a month later.

The competition has resulted in rights fees higher than expected.

GolTV, which is in 10 million homes, outbid its competitors, paying in the high seven figures for the U.S. rights to Spain's main football league, sources said. It also holds the rights to the main football leagues in Germany, Italy and Brazil.

GolTV has a dual feed, one in English and the other in Spanish, but cable operators, according to sources, do not pay for the English-language feed and would not reveal how much cable operators pay for the Spanish-language feed.

Cable carriers that use GOITV include Comcast, Charter, Cablevision and Cox, while satellite operators include DirecTV and Dish Network, as well as Verizon's cable offering, FiOS, and AT&T's U-Verse.

Of the 10 million subscribers, 3 million receive it on various Spanish-language tiers and 7 million receive it on English-language sports tiers.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.