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One more day. That’s all. We can manage one more day, right? One more day of football-less tedium, with only the sickly sweet methadone of transfer gossip and pre-season friendlies to replace the true heroin of real league action. Tomorrow the country will return to its natural state — football crazy, football mad. And this season there are more options than ever to get your fix.
Sky, of course, is the big beast, the Mickey Quinn of broadcasters, but because of some EU shenanigans, it’s not allowed a monopoly on showing the Premier League any more. It’s the only option for high-definition football, and its basic sports package will set you back £35 a month, including all sorts of extra gubbins.
The annoying little full-back snapping at Sky’s heels is Setanta, with 46 live games this season compared to Sky’s 92. But while you’ll need a Sky satellite or Virgin cable to access Sky Sports, Setanta is available over Freeview via a special card you stick in your set-top box. It costs £9.99 a month and there’s no annual contract.
If you’ve got BT Vision, you can get Setanta through that, but there’s also 242 full matches on-demand, available a few hours after the match ends. These can be downloaded over your BT broadband line, for £1.99 each or for £4 a month, or £12 a month including the full Setanta package. If BT Vision’s movies are anything to go by, it’ll be a smooth experience with picture quality superior to Freeview. There’s more info at BT’s site.
You needn’t pay a bean, though, and still enjoy plenty of footie. Match of the Day is back on BBC1 on Saturdays at 10.30pm, with MotD2 on BBC2 at 10pm on Sundays. The Beeb also has some FA Cup matches and England’s home games (including the crucial qualifiers in September). ITV has highlights of the Championship on Sunday mornings, plus some Champions League and UEFA Cup matches, with Sky picking up the European slack. BBC Radio Five Live and talkSPORT share the radio rights, although the Beeb has far more matches.
Got all that? Good. Now you’ll need to check out our guides to cheap hi-def TVs to watch it all on, mobile servies to keep up to date, fantasy football games to waste time at work, and digital radios to take to the match. Here’s to a great season. -Nick Hide
