BT Sport has agreed a three-year deal with cable operator Virgin that will see the channels offered for free to many of its customers.

The news, confirmed today in advance of the new Premier League season starting on Saturday, means that subscribers of Virgin's top 'XL' package will receive BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN for no extra cost. Virgin customers who do not take the XL pack will be able to add BT's offering as a premium extra.

The move is a further slight to Sky, whose customers can only access BT Sport either for free by taking the BT Broadband service - and not Sky Broadband - or by paying a premium of £12 per month, per box.

In a statement, BT said that the Virgin deal would take the potential audience for BT Sport from over 1 million homes to around 3 million homes overnight.

"BT is rewarding its loyal customers with free sport and it is great to see Virgin Media immediately making BT Sport available to so many of their customers," said Marc Watson, chief exec of BT TV. "BT has made a large investment in BT Sport and this is an important commercial agreement for us that recognises the excellence of the channels. We are keen to make our services as widely available as possible and to do so via wholesale arrangements."

BT Sport launched at the start of the month and will air the first match of the Premier League season, Stoke's trip to Liverpool, this Saturday lunchtime.