The future of troubled sports broadcaster Setanta remained in the balance today while rivals bid for its forfeited Premier League matches.

Setanta is fighting for survival after losing the key 46 games for next season last Friday when it failed to meet a deadline for a £10 million payment to the league.

The matches are now up for tender by the Premier League, which has given broadcasters until today to make their bids.

BSkyB and US-broadcaster ESPN are expected to buy rights to 23 games each, although they may face competition from digital pay TV service TopUp TV.

Setanta still holds the rights to other major sporting fixtures including the FA Cup, some England matches, the Scottish Premier League (SPL), US PGA golf and from 2010, Guinness Premiership rugby.

The firm's woes could cause a headache for other sporting associations as a fall into administration might trigger a fire sale of its other broadcasting deals.

It is also feared the loss of the Premier League games will cause Setanta subscribers to migrate to other providers.

The Irish broadcaster has around 1.2 million subscribers, but this is below the 1.9 million it needs to break even and it is currently thought to be running at a loss of nearly £100 million a year.

It was left unable to pay the Premier League following the collapse of a potential rescue deal with US tycoon Len Blavatnik's Access Industries.

The deal, which was thought to be worth £20 million, would have seen Access Industries buy a 51% stake in the broadcaster, but it failed to go ahead after "a number of issues" were not resolved in time.

Deloitte has been lined up to act as administrator if the firm fails.

Setanta, which employs around 430 people as well as 700 call centre contract workers, temporarily suspended new subscriptions earlier this month, prompting fears over the future of the business.

The firm recently missed a £3 million payment to the SPL, causing the league to have to pay clubs out of its own coffers.

Despite the fact its Premier League matches are expected to be snapped up today, it is thought the bids could fall below what Setanta was paying.

BSkyB is expected to buy Setanta's package of Monday night Premier League games, as it has already won the rights to broadcast these from 2010/2011.

However, EU legislation means it cannot own all the rights, making it likely that ESPN will pick up the Saturday teatime games.