Pay-TV group Sky and telecoms firm BT have agreed to pay £5.1bn to show live English Premier League matches from 2016 to 2019, with Sky winning the majority of the games.
Following one of the most highly anticipated broadcast auctions of recent times, the Premier League said Sky had won five of the seven packages of broadcast rights, with BT winning the last two.
The figure compares to a previous three year deal which cost the two firms around £3bn.
The decision comes after a ferocious bidding war, reportedly including bids from America's Discovery Network and Qatar's beIN Sports.
Sky makes its sports programming available through its subscription-based channels, while BT offers its sports content free to its broadband subscribers in Britain.
In Ireland, viewers can subscribe to the services through the Sky Sports and Setanta Sports packages.
