NASCAR TV in Europe in jeopardy

UPDATE #2 LIVE NASCAR Nextel Cup returns to NASN on Sunday February 25th and will air on Setanta Sports Ireland (Sky Channel 434 in UK and 429 in ROI). Tune in at 8pm for all the exciting racing action from the Auto Club 500. Check back on nasn.com for further announcements about additional motor sport programming on NASN.

02/04/07 In late 2006 there were reports of Setanta seeking to sell NASN, and a sale was soon confirmed, with ESPN purchasing NASN for €70m. Completion of the sale will be in the first quarter of 2007. It is not known if ESPN plans to change the channel's name from NASN to ESPN, bringing the channel's name in line with ESPN Classic (UK). However, at present, NASN Customer Services have confirmed that NASN will remain part of the Setanta Sports pack, thus guaranteeing the immediate future of NASN2.

It is thought that ESPN will use the new channel as a foothold to compete with BSkyB and Setanta for access to the FA Premier League when its bidding rights come up in 2009-10. And they may try to obtain broadcasting rights to the NFL were NASN don’t already hold the broadcast rights.

02/03/07 Rumors are growing that there could be no live Nextel Cup coverage for fans in Britain and the rest of Europe in 2007 as satellite TV station NASN struggles to reach an agreement with the series.

From the NASN Site: Here’s the rundown on NASCAR Coverage: We are currently in negotiations with NASCAR regarding coverage for the upcoming season. As soon as there is anything to report on the situation, we will announce it NASN