Thursday saw the deadline for a slice of the six new packages up for grabs. They run as of 2007 for three years.
It represents the first time Sky will not be able to secure its traditional monopoly on the rights after EU pressure forced the Premier League to ensure other platforms won games in order to offer a wider range of access to matches.
Each package consists of 23 games.
Sky have held exclusive rights since the Premier League was first formed and are widely expected to emerge still the dominant player with most observers expecting the pay-TV platform to land around five of the six packages.
Sky paid £1.024bn for the last rights deal. Estimates vary wildly as to the financial income to the league through the next deals.
Among those believed to have bid are Irish broadcaster Setanta, commercial terrestrial broadcaster ITV and cable firm NTL.
