RTÉ aims to net TV deal
Sources in Paris described “significant progress” in talks to hammer out a deal between RTÉ, Sky Sports and the French Football Federation.
With the parties deadlocked on the fee for the television and radio rights since the draw for the play-off was made, tomorrow night’s second-leg in the Stade de France had been threatened with a complete broadcast blackout in Ireland.
Now the expectation is that, barring any late hiccups, confirmation of coverage of the game on RTÉ and Sky will be announced today.
RTE and Sky Sports remained locked in discussions late last night with the French Football Federation and their TV partners TF1.
Those close to the talks believed that a deal was imminent.
RTÉ and Sky were earlier reported to have opened the bidding for TV rights with a joint offer of €600,000 but the French Football Federation was said to be holding out for €1.5 million. The dispute was running for more than a week, sparked by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) move to sell rights for Saturday night’s encounter to a station other than their French counterparts’ favoured TV partners.
In the bidding stakes, for both live TV and radio rights to the game, the national broadcaster has been up against tough competition from TV3, Sky Sports and Newstalk 106-108fm.
Newstalk came on late in the game announcing just yesterday that it had an interest, but it was not disclosed how much the radio broadcaster was prepared to pay. Newstalk said it had “entered negotiations to bring this important game to the Irish people free of charge”.
Sky Sports, which was hoping to televise the encounter, has remained tight-lipped on the matter, while TV3, like RTÉ, was said to have put a six-figure sum on the table.
RTÉ figures show that an estimated 858,000 viewers watched the first leg of the play-off on Saturday. The viewing numbers peaked at 1,101,000 during the final minutes of the game.
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