Sportsnet World - History

History

The channel was launched as Setanta Sports, in partnership with Ireland-based Setanta Sports, on August 10, 2007 in time for the 2007–08 Premier League season, as a pay-per-view (PPV) service under the auspices of Rogers' occasionally used Rogers Sportsnet PPV licence. Although operating under a PPV licence, Setanta acted as a pay TV service, with a 24-hour commercial-free schedule, rather than a PPV service where customers are prompted to pay a price for each individual event.

Rogers later applied to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for a category 2 digital licence which was approved on July 15, 2008 under the name Sportsnet 2.

In mid-2009, Rogers swapped licences for Setanta Sports, from using the PPV licence to the category 2 digital licence, without interrupting service; at which point, the Irish-based Setanta Sports company gained a 33.33% interest in the Rogers subsidiary that owns 80% of the channel, as well as a 20% interest in the channel itself.

In July 2011, Rogers announced that Setanta Sports would be re-branded as part of the Rogers Sportsnet family of networks on October 3, 2011, becoming Sportsnet World. The change was intended to allow the channel to be cross-promoted through other Sportsnet properties—which would also be re-branded with a new logo and image campaign on the same day. In preparation for the re-launch, Setanta Sports' minority stake in the channel was sold to another company, MLM Management, and the rights to Setanta programming were maintained by the channel. Despite being branded as a Sportsnet service, it remained a premium channel separate from the Sportsnet regional networks and Sportsnet One. MLM Management's interest in the channel were sold to Rogers in early 2012, giving Rogers 100% interest in the service.