Sweet music to soccer fan ears, perhaps: New York-based SCP Worldwide, whose principal investors include former Madison Square Garden and CSTV executives Dave Checketts and Chris Bevilacqua, is said to be buying a majority stake in GolTV, the U.S. purveyor of Spain’s La Liga as well as games from Italy’s Serie A and the German Bundesliga. According to various reports, SCP agreed to 80 percent of GolTV, which currently has some 10 million cable and satellite subscribers.
Neither party publicly confirmed specifics, but they did announce an agreement “on a partnership transaction.” In its statement, GolTV said “SCP Worldwide will bring its belief in the growth of soccer, its extensive and successful operating experience of cable networks and digital-media assets together with the impressive management team of GolTV and their extensive array of soccer-programming assets.” The financial firm Watch Hill Partners is advising the parties.
Is there a conflict of interest here with MLS? No word from the American league, but Checketts after all, is the owner of MLS club Real Salt Lake. One wonders how Garber and co. will take the news that one of its own is trying to ink a deal with what is essentially a company proffering competition for its MLS viewers on ESPN2, FSC, TeleFutura and HDNet.