TV football deal sparks fears

But despite the end to Sky's 14-year stranglehold of Premiership football, licensees fear they will be no better off.

Setanta won the right to screen 46 live matches per season over three years from August 2007, costing £392m.

Sky meanwhile spent £1.314bn for 92 games a year over the same period.

The deal, completed on May 5, will mean that pubs will get Irish broadcaster Setanta's seven sports channels bundled into their Sky subscription.

Sky has confirmed that, under the new deal, its pay-per view system will no longer operate.

But publicans are not convinced they will see any benefits from the deal. Kevin O'Connor, licensee at the Swan Inn, in Newton Abbot, said: "It's a farce and I think we'll still have to pay more," he said. "Sky will just use it as an excuse to charge more."

For some time now licensees have complained that the Sky fees are too high. However many pubs see it as a necessity in order to keep up with their competitors.

Adrian Straatman, licensee at the Old Tigers Head, in Lee, South-East London, said: "With Sky doing a deal with Setanta, I think they will use it as an excuse to charge more.

"It is coming to the point where I don't think it will be viable anymore."

Sky earns an estimated £200 million a year from its 40,000 pub and club subscribers.

But a spokesman for Sky told The Publican: "It would be premature to comment on pricing at this stage, other than to say that we always aim to offer good value for money and to provide a service that helps licensees to attract customers and grow their business."