The FAI have announced a new agreement with RTÉ and WATCHLOI to broadcast matches this season. As part of the new deal, League of Ireland Premier Division, First Division and Women's National League games will all be available to watch.
RTÉ Sport are set to broadcast SSE Airtricity Premier Division games again, with the return of Friday Night Football. RTÉ will also cover all production costs for League of Ireland's streaming platform, WATCHLOI, with all profits from the site going to Premier Division clubs.
The WATCHLOI streaming service returns, after being introduced last summer as fans couldn't make it to stadiums. The FAI have also announced a new streaming service, LOITV, which will broadcast all SSE Airtricity First Division matches and Women's National League games.
The Women's National League games will be available to watch for free on LOITV. Cost for WATCHLOI Premier Division and LOITV First Division games will be announced soon.
FANTASTIC NEWS⚽️🇮🇪
✔RTÉ will continue its coverage of Friday Night Football
✔WatchLOI returns for the Premier Division
✔New LOITV streaming service will cover both the First Division & WNL
✔All WNL games will broadcast for FREE
✔FAI have committed 55k towards marketing pic.twitter.com/xWuirwQgMg— Domestic Ireland (@DomesticIreland) February 25, 2021
Action will begin when Shamrock Rovers take on Dundalk in the FAI President's Cup on March 12th, with the game free to air on WATCHLOI.
Rovers will also be in action in the first RTÉ Friday Night Football coverage, where they'll take on St. Patrick's Athletic on March 19th. Waterford vs Sligo Rovers and Shamrock Rovers vs Dundalk will be the next two Friday night games covered on RTÉ.
As part of the new deal, the FAI are installing new cameras in each ground to air First Division and Women's National League games on LOITV. The Pixellot cameras, according to the FAI, "deliver a top-quality viewing experience with the cameras used in many leagues across the world."