The threat to RTE's hegemony of Irish sport has stopped short of encompassing the Irish football team. Having lost GAA rights to Sky Sports and the Six Nations and the Rugby World Cup to TV3, the state broadcaster has been boosted by today's announcement that they have secured the broadcast rights to Ireland's qualifiers for Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup. They have also announced that they will show Euro 2020 live, which will include the three group games and the knockout game slated for the Aviva Stadium.
RTE have already nailed down the rights to the World Cups in 2018 and 2022, meaning that we have at least another five years in the glorious position of watching Costa Rica play Honduras on terrestrial Irish TV.
This covers TV broadcast, along with radio and online.
Ryle Nugent had this to say at the announcement of this latest deal with UEFA:
Today's announcements ensure that all Republic of Ireland European Qualifiers, both home and away, for the FIFA World Cup of 2018, the UEFA EURO 2020 Finals and the FIFA World Cup 2022 will be available, free to air, for Irish audiences on RTÉ. In addition, the three Finals tournaments themselves, which always provide some of the biggest and most iconic moments in sport, will be available to the Irish public. At a time of significant and increased competition in the market place to secure these rights on all platforms is a very positive step.
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