LONDON (AFX) - British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC has won three of the six packages on offer in the auction for the right to televise live English Premiership football, with the remaining matches set to go to a second round of bidding.

‘The FA Premier League is in a position to announce that it has awarded three out of the six packages of live rights to BSkyB,’ said the League in a statement.

‘We will be proceeding to a second round of bidding for the remaining three packages in due course.’

UK broadcasters had until yesterday to submit sealed bids for the rights, which cover the three years from the start of the 2007/2008 season.

The auction could have concluded after that first round of bidding, and the fact that it has been re-opened could mean that BSkyB is facing stiff competition for the remaining packages of 23 matches per season, said analysts.

‘There was a hope that all this would have been wrapped up in the first round,’ said Paul Richards at Numis Securities. ‘There are now fears that BSkyB mightn’t get two of the three remaining packages, or if they do, they’ll have to pay heavily for them.’

By 11.15 am, BSkyB shares were down 11-1/2 pence at 519.

Following a recent European Commission ruling, British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC was guaranteed to lose its monopoly over the live rights for the first time since the Premiership began in 1992.

Fast-growing Irish pay-TV group Setanta and the enlarged NTL-Virgin group likely submitted bids, but despite the extra competition, analysts still expect the Rupert Murdoch-controlled broadcaster to win five out of six packages on offer.

The Premier League has never revealed the mechanics of the auction process, but it understood that it reserved the right to re-open the bidding in the event that offers were either too low, or if there was little to choose between two competing bids.

The rules allegedly allow for third and subsequent rounds of bidding, with the proviso that the auction concludes by the start of next season in mid-August.

A spokesman for the League declined to specify the deadline for the submission of second-round bids. BSkyB said it was bound by a confidentiality clause and would make no further comment