RTÉ look like the big winners today from an Irish perspective.
It has been announced that the BBC and ITV have agreed to divvy up the British TV rights for the Six Nations between themselves, thus keeping Sky Sports and BT at bay until at least 2021.
The deal, thought to be worth £50m per year, will see the BBC show home games for France, Scotland and Wales while ITV will show the home clashes for Ireland, England and Italy.
But what does this mean for Irish fans?
Today’s news means it is very unlikely that Sky or BT would bid for the Irish rights, as they would only be able to show coverage in Ireland. That would leave RTÉ in a strong position to buy the exclusive TV rights once again for Ireland matches.
In fact, since UTV Ireland may not be allowed show ITV’s Six Nations package (like in the case of the Champions League) RTÉ might be in a position to gain viewers, as traditionally fans had the option of watching games on either the national broadcaster or the BBC.
The Irish rights have yet to be sold, but it looks like fans of Joe Schmidt’s side will be watching the Six Nations on RTÉ for the foreseeable future.
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