Apart from movies and news, people usually watch television for sports. Rupert Murdoch once reportedly said that he saw sport as the ” battering ram ” for pay television. Indeed, broadcasters fork out millions of dollars for winning rights to sporting events. A major reason why BSkyB is such a prominent player in the UK today is because of its access to exclusive football rights. It was Sky which encouraged the Premier League to break away from the Football League in 1992. Sky had a monopoly over telecasting live football games, until Irish broadcaster Setanta sports took 2 of the six packages offered by the Premier League from the 2007 season. Setanta Sports forked out £392 million, while Sky paid £1.3 billion for the remaining for packages. The deal meant that Sky pays around £4.8m for each game, while Setanta pays £2.8m. Setanta telecasts 46 games from the Premiership, while Sky owns the rights to 92.

When the rights were last awarded in 2003, Sky won by paying £1.024 bn. With the European commission threatening to take action against the Premier League if Sky were to be given all the packages this time around, Sky were allowed to bid for all , but could win atmost five out of the six. ( Each package consists of 23 games)
Setanta, formed in 1990, has its headquarters in Dublin. Named after the ancient Irish warrior Setanta who played hurling, the company has turned into a formidable force in the sports broadcasting arena over the last decade . LFC TV, the official television channel of Liverpool FC, is part of the Setanta sports package. So are Rangers TV, Celtic TV and Arsenal FC TV . It also has rights to the Scottish Premier League till 2010.
Most of the major clubs in the world, including Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid have television channels of their own.

You can also watch Live NASN as part of the Setanta package. Setanta and Benchmark Capital sold NASN to ESPN in March 2007. NASN ( North American Sports Network) is the only network in the European continent devoted to showing North American sports. You can view NHL and MLB games from the comfort of your home, as well as NASCAR races and college basketball.

Setanta is quite affordable, costing only 9.99 pounds  for a month. In the UK, you can get it on Sky, BT Vision, Tiscali and Virgin.