BT Vision strikes with £1.99 Prem football

Liverpool striker Peter Crouch was at the launch of BT Vision Sport

BT Vision has launched its sports package, with matches available for £1.99. But although the pay-as-you-go nature of the service sounds like a great idea, BT Vision Sport will only enable you to watch 'near live' broadcastings of Barclays Premier League matches.

You won't be able to see those matches shown live on Sky Sports and, er, you'll have to watch them after 10pm on the day of the match. Time for the matchsticks.

You can, though, get a month's worth of 'near live' matches for the princely sum of £4.

However for £12 a month BT is enabling you to add some live matches to your package in the form of the pay-per-view package held by Irish-based Setanta Sports . This is the batch of pay-per-view matches also available to Sky Sports subscribers, which for the last few seasons have been known as Prem Plus. The price also includes Scottish Premier League games, too.

BT is, of course, focusing on the pay-as-you-go nature of the deal coupled by per-match pricing unrivalled elsewhere. The pay-as-you go and £4 monthly subscription will also cover 'near-live' coverage of up to 125 Coca Cola League and Carling Cup games.

Setanta Sports

BT's hybrid Freeview and IPTV service has had a low-key start since its launch in December. But it said on launch day that it would be partnering with Setanta to show the so-called 'near live' coverage, which is simply time-delayed with no editing.

BT Vision says subscribers will be able to get 'near live' coverage of 242 Premier League matches per season. Setanta Sports' live action includes 46 Premier League matches from England and 60 from Scotland. It also includes action from other European football leagues, US PGA tour golf, Nascar and Magners League rugby.

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