Rugby fans’ wallets set for a €400 mauling

MANY Irish rugby fans who are anxious not to miss a second of World Cup 2007 action will have to pay up to €400 for the privilege.

While Ireland’s games are being shown for free on TV3, fans who don’t have Chorus or Sky will have to fork out for either Sky satellite television or Chorus cable TV — and then a two-month subscription to the Setanta channel.

Fans opting for satellite have to sign up for a minimum of 12 months, with the cheapest Sky deal costing €240 for the year with an extra €36 for Setanta, a total of €276 in all.

Supporters who choose cable also have to subscribe for a year at an annual cost of €342 for a basic package with Chorus Digital and an extra €36 for Setanta, making €378 in total.

Setanta has the exclusive rights in Ireland to broadcast all 49 games of the tournament, which is being staged in France and Wales from Friday.

A monthly subscription to Setanta costs €18 but as the tournament is spread over two months fans will have to pay for both September and October at a total of €36.

The Irish Examiner understands fans also have to pay a registration fee of about €15 with Setanta and give a month’s notice before cancelling or else they will have to pay a further €18.

Last night, the Consumers’ Association of Ireland (CAI) said rugby fans were paying a heavy price for their loyalty to the sport.

“It’s not as if they can negotiate, haggle or choose some games and save themselves money,” said CAI boss Dermott Jewell.

“They have no choice and unfortunately that’s the nature of big business today: making profit at the most opportune moment.”

However, fans who have Sky or a cable service like Chorus can get more games than just the ones being shown for free on TV3. If they tune into Belfast-based UTV they will also get additional games being broadcast on the station’s sister channel in Britain, ITV1.

UTV comes as part of the Chorus Digital package while Sky Digital subscribers can simply get UTV by going to the “other channels” menu and reconfiguring their electronic programme guide.

Likewise, Sky Digital subscribers can watch British channels ITV1 and ITV4, which between them are showing all 48 games.

At the last Rugby World Cup in 2003, fans could see Ireland’s, England’s, Scotland’s and Wales’s early games for free on RTÉ, which also broadcast the quarter- and semi-finals as well as the final.

Now the only free-to-air games are on TV3, which has the rights to Ireland’s games, the quarter-finals, the semis and the final on October 20 from the Saint Denis stadium in Paris.

“Despite numerous efforts RTÉ Sport was unfortunately unable to secure the rights to this year’s Rugby World Cup,” said spokeswoman Laura Fitzgerald.

“In a highly competitive market it is not always possible for RTÉ Sport to secure the rights to all the key sporting events. We will, however, continue to make every effort to bring many major international and national sporting events to the public free to air.”

The Irish team are due to fly out of Dublin today to Bordeaux, in south-west France, ahead of their first game on Sunday against African minnows Namibia.