31 July 2007
Followers of the bitter fighting between Sky Sports and Virgin Media will be surprised to learn there is now a third party that has joined the fight to become the UK's number one sports provider.
Setanta Sports has announced its attempts to fight Sky on its own turf, after pouring a record 2.7 billion into Premiership clubs in order to secure broadcast rights.
However in a significant turn of events, Setanta - after announcing an aggressive advertising campaign - also revealed that it has signed Sky's former flag bearer, Des Lynam, to present its Premiership games.
Defending his decision to move, Des announced: "It's a new kid on the block. Sky could do with a rival and I think it will do great.
"It's healthy for the sport to have another main player in the game."
The entry to the market comes after months of fighting between Virgin Media and Sky which led to Sky withdrawing their channels from Virgin over a dispute regarding the amount Virgin were prepared to pay for the services.