Football heading for a TV price war

A price war between television companies offering pay-per-view football matches was looming today after some digital subscribers were offered access to 40 Premiership games next season for just £3 a month.

ONDigital, who become ITV Digital tomorrow, are offering the deal to anyone who has signed up for their main service and already pays £6.99 a month for the ITV Sport Channel, which will show Nationwide, Worthington Cup and Champions League games and is due to be launched next month.

None of the firms who can sell the pay-per-view matches to armchair supporters have announced their prices but ONDigital and Sky are due to reveal their plans this week.

Many of the games involved will kick off at lunchtime on Sundays and are likely to cost less than £10 each but intense competition for viewers is set to follow today's announcement.

The pricing policy follows critics' claims that football's television coverage will finally reach saturation point next season with more than 200 competitive games involving English teams being shown live on terrestrial and digital services.

Supporters who are willing to pay around £40 each month - less than going to two Premiership matches in the cheapest seats at most clubs - will have access to them all and could watch a game or highlights almost every night of the week, leading to concerns that this could affect attendances at grounds.