just read in the paper,that sky have lost the ariva r.u.premier league contract to b.t.wander if they will put more money into rugby league now.

As long as they keep the AVIVA one they'll be laughing

It's a shame the RL deal with Sky was signed so recently and isn't up for renewal this winter. What we have here is a situation where Sky have basically had everything their own way, ceding some Premier League football rights to Setanta and then ESPN to keep the competition commission off their back and paying plenty for rights to keep the likes of Al Jazeera and the terrestrials at arms length but basically a monopoly.

What we have now is BT absolutely determined to build its three play - customers who take TV, broadband and phone from the same people - business up. They've recognised that the only way you sell payTV subscriptions in this country is by having live sports rights and they're paying massively over the odds for everything. They've got 38 Premier League games from next season and actually bid for all seven packages forcing the cost up from 1bn to 3bn. Sky survived, but only just as BT led the bidding right through to the last round when Sky effectively wrote a blank cheque out because they know they're finished without the football.

Now this Rugby Union thing. Premiership rights fair enough, but BT have also nabbed European rights from 2014 in a move which is probably going to bring about the end of the Heineken Cup and see it replaced with a European Championship which they will cover live.

So ESPN are now desperate for some live sport to keep their subscribers, Sky are desperate to hang onto what they have, and BT are paying massively over the odds for whatever they can get their hands on. Hopefully this will still be the case the next time the RL rights are up because they won't be going for the tiny amount Sky pay for them currently next time if it is.

I've heard they're after the Mexican RU League, Ariba.