London - The Premier League confirmed on Friday that BSkyB have secured five of the six packages of live matches for the seasons between 2010-11 and
2012-2013.

Under the present agreement BSkyB have four packages. They had already held onto those in the first round of bidding.

They have reclaimed Monday nights while Setanta retain the Saturday evening fixtures.

The Premier League confirmed the overall value of the six packages, which each contains 23 live games, is 1.782 billion pounds (2.626 billion dollars).

The present deal is worth 1.7 billion pounds.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: "The Barclays Premier League is a fantastic competition.

"The continued investment in playing talent and facilities made by the clubs is largely down to the revenue generated through the sale of our broadcast rights.

"The live UK rights are the largest contribution to the revenues we distribute centrally to the clubs and this deal gives them the stability to plan and invest in the most important aspect of our business - the football - everything else flows from that.

"I look forward to continuing our good working relationship with BSkyB and Setanta who both provide excellent programming for fans of Premier League football.

"I would also like to thank all of those broadcasters who took part in the bidding process." (dpa)