NTL likely to enter bidding war

CABLE giant NTL followed up its takeover deal of Virgin Mobile today by setting its sights on Premier League football rights.

Jim Mooney, chairman of NTL, said dozens of meetings had taken place about whether to bid for the right to screen a batch of live games from 2007-08, and the company had also been in touch with regulators.

The idea would be to make Premier League football a centrepiece of a new channel, which would be called Virgin Sports, and emulate BSkyB which used its 13-year monopoly to attract new subscribers.

Mr Mooney said: “We are looking at Premier League football. I think the concept of Virgin Sports is one of the most exciting things that we can look forward to.”

Premier League officials last month committed to ensuring that no single broadcaster could buy the rights to all matches. With seven years of discussions between the league and the European Commission having come to a head, broadcasters have been handed a deadline of April 27 to submit their bids.