It has not so far been well publicised that, of the 46 live games that Setanta will be airing for the next three seasons, as many as 40 of them will involve the said big four.
With Setanta having mainly third and fourth pick of the week's matches, its £392m steal from Sky of two of the six live Premiership packages up for grabs had been portrayed as a Pyrrhic victory. Pundits questioned if even the most ardent fan wanted to add another 46 live games a year to the 92 they can get on Sky, particularly if they were of the Wigan Athletic v Sheffield United variety.
Sky will still get the top games, when the big four play each other, but the rules governing how many times one team can be featured in a single package have given Setanta a fixture list that at a price of £10.99 a month is starting to look attractive, especially to Freeview footie fans.
In the short term, Setanta will have difficulty monetising its coup and is handicapped by the limited number of Freeview set-top boxes in circulation with the requisite pay-TV slot. But, with analogue switch-off in progress and the addition to Setanta's football offer of the rights to England and FA Cup games from August 2008, the new subscriber prospects and the threat to Sky's pay-football dominance will grow.
With TV football advertising in decline, Setanta has spotted a new revenue opportunity. A liberalisation of gambling rules coincides nicely with the start of the next football season. Setanta's intention to offer spread betting on the televised match, through a gaming company, could increase viewer interest and generate significant income.
Sky's threat to launch a rival pay-TV football service on DTT this summer is looking ever more hollow. Ofcom has yet to approve Sky's licence application and manufacturers have yet to start producing the special Mpeg4 set-top boxes that will be required to receive Sky's service.
So, it looks like Setanta could have live Premiership exclusivity on DTT next season and with Ofcom investigating pay-TV, Sky may feel inhibited in the competitive action it might take. It's looking rather good for the Irish upstart.