Eir Sport and the Guinness PRO14 have agreed a partnership giving the broadcaster rights to every game for the next three years from next season. The deal means that for the first time in Ireland rugby fans can watch all of the tournament’s 152 games on one TV channel, with over 30 hours of rugby each week, including up to six live games with analysis.
A weekly highlights reviewing and previewing games will also form part of the new schedule. Coverage will be broadcast from a new state-of-the-art studio, with “new faces and new technology to engage with Irish rugby supporters”. Eir Sport has entered into a sub-licencing agreement with TG4, providing the Irish language broadcaster with a number of games.
The Guinness PRO14 Championship comprises four Irish, four Welsh, two Scottish, two Italian and two South African teams. Teams play a total of 21 games each season across two conferences with the six top-ranked teams qualifying for the Guinness PRO14 finals. Guinness Pro14 recently signed partnership deals with O’Callaghan hotels and CityJet.
The Eir group has undergone some major personnel changes in recent weeks.
Following Eir’s takeover by French telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel, Eir’s head of sport and TV Glen Killane, who joined from RTE in 2016, and group marketing director, Henry Dummer, previously with Tesco, have left the telco. Carolan Lennon has replaced Richard Moat as Eir’s CEO. An Post CEO and former TV3 boss David McRedmond is now chairman.
