Co-founder of Microsoft and the world's fourth richest man, Mr Paul Allen, will invest up to €10 million in a joint-venture television firm based in Dublin, called North American Sports Network.
The start-up , which is the brainchild of the Irish firm Setanta, will broadcast an American sports channel to US and Canadian ex- pats living in the Republic and in Britain on the Sky Digital satellite platform.
Broadcasts are scheduled to begin in December with the firm using content sourced from several American television networks such as ESPN and Fox.
Mr Leonard Ryan, joint chief executive of Setanta Sports - one of a group of firms that provide TV, radio and mobile services - said the North American Sports Network was a joint venture between Setanta and Mr Allen's venture firm Vulcan Ventures.
He would not disclose the value of Vulcan's investment but confirmed it would be the majority shareholder in the company.
But sources later told The Irish Times the investment was worth up to €10 million, and the full cost of launching and running the new channel was up to €20 million.
The cash will be used to pay for broadcast content from US and Canadian TV networks, marketing campaigns and staff.
The firm would employ 15 to 30 staff in its first year, said Mr Ryan.
Mr Ryan said one of Setanta's employees had approached Mr Allen through a family friend about the idea to target a channel at US and Canadian ex-pats. It is estimated that up to 500,000 ex-pats work and live in the Republic and Britain.
All US and Canadian sports including baseball, hockey and football would be carried on the channel, he said.
The channel will broadcast both live and delayed live sports events 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It had secured rights to college matches also, said Mr Ryan.
He said the final cost of a subscription to the new sports channel was expected to be about €14.99 per month on Sky Digital.
He said the hotel market and other businesses should prove a lucrative market for the firm. The residential market would also be a potentially lucrative one for the new channel, he added.
The launch of the new channel is the latest in a series of expansions for Setanta Sport, which was originally established to show GAA games in London. The firm recently secured the rights to broadcast soccer matches in the Scottish Premier League.
Setanta Media, a subsidiary company, sells premium SMS sporting content and has a stake in Newstalk 106 and a new Kilkenny radio licence that was issued last week.
Mr Allen co-founded Microsoft Corporation with Mr Bill Gates in 1975. He left the firm due to illness in 1983 but was ranked the fourth richest man in the world in the recent 16th annual Forbes magazine ranking of the world's billionaires.
He owns and invests in many companies exploring the potential of digital communications.
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