Yet this Saturday, as the new SPL campaign begins with live coverage of the lunchtime fixture between Celtic and Kilmarnock, the broadcaster will begin to roll out an extended programme which reflects a significantly increased investment in the Scottish game. They may be expanding exponentially, but they are not about to elope.

While a stake of £392m may have bought them a slice of the action from England's top flight from 2007, the company insist it will not be at the expense of the market which they acknowledge undoubtedly provided their springboard into the major league.

"I wouldn't want anyone in Scotland to start thinking that just because we have secured Premiership football, we have effectively ticked the box of the SPL and we'll be moving on, " stressed Roger Hall, the managing director of Setanta's consumer division.

"If anyone wants to know how serious we are about Scotland, look at the additional money we have put in, the extra games we will be showing, the new initiatives, and the fact our existing deal with the SPL has been extended by another two years."

The statistics support his statement. For the next four years, subscribers will be able to watch 60 live games a season from the SPL . . . which is 22 more than under the original deal signed two years ago.

And it has cost the Irish broadcaster £54.5m to secure that exclusively until 2010.

In broadcasting terms, Scottish football has never had it so good. Which is illuminating when you consider how lukewarm the reaction was in 2004 when the SPL revealed they had entrusted their live rights . . . and remembered this was post the ruinous collapse of ITV-Digital . . . to a largely unheralded Irish company which could trace its roots back to a pub in Ealing.

It was there, in 1990, that Setanta's co-founders Michael O'Rourke and Leonard Ryan hosted their first event. Two Irishmen, living in London, and frustrated at the lack of live coverage of a World Cup clash between Ireland and Holland, they negotiated broadcasting rights themselves and a thousand people turned up to watch the match.

"We knew we wouldn't get a glowing endorsement back in 2004 and for good reason.

There were plenty of grounds for scepticism, but a new company has to start somewhere and we asked to be judged on our performance rather than be prejudiced on the history of the company to that point, " recalled Hall.

For prejudice now read plaudits. In recent months Setanta have benefited from the break-up of BSkyB's monopoly of the Premiership to sign a deal to broadcast 46 live games a season for three years from 2007. They have wrestled one of the golfing jewels out of Sky's hands by securing the rights to show the American PGA Tour from next year, and they've also added Golden League Athletics to a sporting programme which already includes live football action from the Dutch, French, German and Italian leagues.

"A Roy of the Rovers story for the digital age" was how Setanta's move into the Premiership was heralded. Yet Hall insists the powerbrokers at the company are well aware what the key moment was in the build-up to achieving that goal.

"I would describe our SPL contract as absolutely vital to our winning the Premiership packages. If you put yourself in the position of a rightsholder, they have to look at you and have a high degree of trust that you can deliver what they want you to. A big part of that was making sure we were successful in Scotland, " said Hall.

"A lot of eyes have been on what Setanta have been doing in Scotland . . . probably more than anyone has ever looked at what a broadcaster is achieving in Scotland before.

And we have done a good job, which I think most people would acknowledge."

He expects a good job to get even better this season.

Apart from a greater number of live games, one of the other changes will be the introduction of a new Saturday night highlights show.

Intriguingly, it will find itself up against Match of the Day on the BBC . . . a terrestrial favourite against a pay tv newcomer.

"It is a big step financially because the turnaround in editing terms has to be really quick, but we thought it was important to put the Scottish football fan first rather than say we just don't want to compete against Match of the Day, " explained Hall.

"If you are a Scottish football fan and your team is playing on Saturday we think you are more likely to want to watch highlights of that game rather than Arsenal playing Aston Villa."

When details of the extended SPL deal were revealed, it provoked some surprise that the extra 22 games a season Setanta have paid to show will not feature either half of the Old Firm. Hall insists that merely reflects the growing maturity of the market.

"As a pay tv broadcaster we require content that drives subscribers . . . actual viewing figures are of less interest to us. In the first two years we have shown a product, which, in fairness, has focused on the Old Firm and we did that because it reflects the majority in terms of supporters.

"So far we have done a good job in convincing Old Firm fans to subscribe. But the next step is how to we add to the product so we can start getting more Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen and Dundee United fans to come on side as well. Showing endless streams of games involving Rangers and Celtic doesn't tap into a new tranche of the market. This will broaden that out."

It seems a bold prediction.

But after confounding their doubters so far, it might be worth staying tuned.