ONdigital, the pay-television group, is planning to launch its own premium sports channel to coincide with the start of the next football season.

The channel will screen coverage of the Nationwide League and Worthington Cup after ONdigital secured the broadcast rights in partnership with ITV in a three-year deal worth £315m last year.

ONdigital is adding the Nationwide League to its cover age of the European Champions' League and the so called "super nine" ATP tennis tournaments. The two events are now screened on ONsport, a channel included in the broadcaster's basic package.

A spokeswoman for ONdigital said the new channel would be offered to rival platforms in the same way that Sky Sports and the NTL-owned British Eurosport are carried by rival broadcasters. It is not yet decided whether the new channel will use the ONsport branding.

The launch represents a further ratcheting up in the competition for sports rights. NTL, which owns British Eurosport, is also planning the launch of a channel which will include the BBC as a minority share holder, provisionally called British Sport.

The Nationwide League deal will see live matches broadcast on Thursdays and Sundays, with pay-per-view games played on Friday nights.

ITV will also screen some Sunday matches and a high lights show as part of the deal which netted the league four times more than its existing TV package.

The spokeswoman said that ONdigital has enough quality content to sustain a premium channel but was also on the look out for other sports rights to include.

Presenters for the new channel are being kept under wraps as is the subscription price - although the spokeswoman said it would be competitive with the likes of Sky Sports.