RTÉ lose rights to Heineken Cup games

RTÉ have lost live broadcast rights for the Heineken Cup to Sky.

The four year contract which begins with the 2006/2007 season means that RTÉ will no longer carry live coverage of home games featuring Leinster and Munster. Instead they will have full delayed broadcasts of all games involving Irish teams (home and away) in the Pool and knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup.

RTÉ will also have rights to a comprehensive highlights package, which will allow the station broadcast coverage of all Heineken Cup matches.

Glen Killane, Head of Sport in RTÉ TV admitted the announcement was a blow.

“Obviously we’re disappointed that we won’t be broadcasting the Heineken Cup live from the end of the coming season.

“We are happy to be continuing a relationship of ten years with ERC as broadcast partners to the Heineken Cup.

“But we have made great efforts to ensure that the public has access to these games free-to-air and we’re very happy to offer the audience the deferred Irish games - both home and away. The highlights package, plus the fact that we can still show Irish teams in action throughout the tournament, will be an added attraction for Irish supporters.”

Sky Sports, who will have exclusive live broadcasts rights in Ireland, plan to broadcast up to seven live matches during each of the six Heineken Cup Pool weekends and will show all of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals live.

ERC chief executive Derek McGrath is adamant that the new deal will generate important increased revenues for the company’s six shareholder nations to help with the development of the professional game.

“Sky Sports have made a major contribution to the development and increased profile of the Heineken Cup tournament since they came on board in 2003. The comprehensive nature of their coverage, which saw sixty games broadcast last season, combined with their level of expertise and quality of coverage, provides an excellent platform for the Heineken Cup to continue to grow for the benefit of the Clubs, supporters and all our stakeholders.

“RTÉ are an excellent partner to the Heineken Cup and have provided wonderful coverage of the tournament in Ireland over the past number of years. We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with them in the seasons ahead as they will now be able to broadcast all games involving Irish teams in the Heineken Cup.

“The increased exposure in Wales through the S4C highlights package, together with RTÉ’s additional coverage will be a major benefit to the tournament and to our stakeholders in these markets. We look forward to enhancing these relationships in the years ahead,” McGrath said.

However, there was some good news for Donnybrook bosses. ERC has also extended its partnership with RTÉ Radio for a further three years, continuing RTÉ Radio’s rights to broadcast all Heineken Cup matches live.