[andy_m]

There will be no doubt some good games on Bt, after all, there were on ESPN. What there won't be are any of the headline matches that sell subscriptions. Sky can control when Bt get their rremaining 8 top picks - if the best match of that weekend is Man U v. Palace then that's what they're stuck with. They spent ttoo much time trumpeting their number of top picks, and now they've been made to look a little silly (as predicted).

And when you consider that Setanta failed and ESPN didn't want to continue despite having all the xl customers as guaranteed revenue, something Bt don't yet have, and the fact that those who actually attend matches won't be able to watch their output because they'll be on the way to the game, I think it's fair to say that Bt will struggle for viewing figures. I know that's not necessarily the most important factor to gauge the success of this venture for Bt, but I simply can't see that they'll ever be able to make money from it.