Who is in the running to snap up the packages?

Obviously BSkyB - which currently holds the rights to all live Premiership matches - will be in the running.

Last week Irish broadcaster Setanta said it would bid for two packages at the "lower end of the scale".

Cable firm NTL, BT Group, and ITV have also been named as potential bidders.

The auction process will also be "technologically neutral", allowing the possibility of games being broadcast over the internet.

However, analysts believe BSkyB is still likely to take the majority of the six packages.

How much will the deal pump into football?

When BSkyB won the current packages of live matches running until 2007, it paid £1.024bn ($1.77bn) to the Premier League in 2003.

Analysts believe the current three-year rights will bring a total of about £1.1bn, up about 10% from the last contract.

Once the live UK rights are determined the Premier League will then look to sell off its mobile phone rights and overseas rights.

Last time round the Premier League raised £1.6bn in total from all its rights, and will be looking to exceed this figure this time.

When will a decision be known?

The Premier League says an announcement will be made some time between the deadline day of Thursday, 27 April, and 19 August, the date the new season starts.

A decision should be known sooner rather than later. Delays are only likely to be caused if none of the bids meet the undisclosed reserved prices for each package.

Then a second round of bidding would have to be instigated. However, it is surely in the interests of the league and broadcasters to get the issue resolved as soon as possible.