Premier Sports 2
Premier Sports was formed in 2009 by the Irish businessman Michael O'Rourke,[1] a joint CEO and part owner of Set anta Sports and former director of Premium Sports.[2] The channel initially focused on broadcasting sporting events that had not been available in Great Britain since the collapse of Set anta Sports GB on 22 June 2009, and were not picked up by rival sports broadcasters ESPN and Sky Sports, but are available through Set anta in Ireland.[3] The channel's management is made up of CEO O'Rourke, General Manager Richard Sweeney and Operations Director Richard Webb.
In April 2013, Premier Sports and Premier Sports Extra began to share their satellite stream with Set anta Sports 1; the arrangement continued after Premier Sports Extra closed on 13 June 2013. Only Premier Sports' branding appears on the channel, with the exception of Sextant's coverage of the Premier League, which was blocked on Premier Sports.
It was revealed in July 2022 that in 2021 the company had 222,000 paying subscribers and revenues of £26.4 million in 2021.[4]
In July 2022, Viaplay Group announced the acquisition of Premier Sports in the UK and its intention to rebrand the channels under its own brand. This did not affect its operations Ireland where the company continued to be owned by SSBL Ltd and continued to branded as Premier Sports[5][6] Viaplay rebranded Premier Sports under the Viaplay Sports name on 1 November 2022.[7] Viaplay Sports operate out of Stockholm, Sweden.
Initially, the same feeds were used for the UK and Ireland with Premier Sports branding used for Premier League coverage which is blocked in the UK. On 28 November the channels split, with the Irish feeds reverting to full Premier Sports branding.[8]
In November 2023, it was announced that Premier Sports had bought Viaplay out in the UK and would rebrand the channels back to Premier Sports.[9]
.png)
