Eir Sport 2 (stylised as eir Sport 2, formerly Setanta Sports 1) was an Irishpay television channel owned by Setanta Sports Channel Ireland.[1]
The channel carried coverage of association football (including top-flight European leagues and UEFA Europa League), boxing, golf, motorsport, and coverage of the SSE Airtricity League.
On 16 December 2013 Setanta Sports launched a high-definition of Setanta Sports 1. Setanta Sports 1 HD was first exclusively available through Virgin Media Ireland, but later launched on Sky on 20 July 2015, along with Premier Sports HD.[2]
As per eir's announcement on 19 May 2021, Eir Sport 2 closed on 20 July 2021. Eir also announced that Eir Sport 1 will also close before the end of 2021.
[4]
Broadcast rights
Most of these aired on both Setanta Ireland and Setanta Sports 1 and were shared between the two channels. In some instances (largely football coverage) Setanta only possessed Republic of Ireland rights, during such programming the channel is unavailable in Northern Ireland. Conversely, live coverage of GAA Championship matches was available only in Northern Ireland and not the Republic.
Setanta's major in-house programme was The Sports Show (formerly The Hub) which aired daily. It also simulcasted the radio show Off The Ball from Newstalk.
On 12 September 2019, Eir Sport 2 was removed from Sky in Ireland and was replaced by Virgin Media Sport.[citation needed] On 13 August 2020, Virgin Media Sport's feeds on Eir and Sky Ireland that were provided by Eir were replaced by Eir Sport 2 on those platforms, as Eir refused to pay the contracted distribution license fee.[7]
