Ireland

Pay-television broadcaster Sky will retain the ability to extend its rights deal with the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland after a motion to make all televised championship games available free to air was defeated.

World Rugby, the global governing body of rugby union, has launched the broadcast rights tender process for its 2019 World Cup in the UK and Irish markets.

Motor-racing’s World Rallycross Championship will this year be broadcast live and in full for the first time on free-to-air television in the UK and Ireland after series operator the IMG agency secured new rights deals.

Paraic Duffy, director general of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, has stated his desire to extend contracts with pay-television broadcasters, despite calls for games to return to free-to-air channels.

ESPN has entered into a partnership with the International Cricket Council that will grant the international sports broadcaster digital rights in the UK and Ireland to ICC events over the next four years.

Irish public-service broadcaster RTÉ has said it is considering sublicensing rights to next summer’s Uefa Euro 2016 national team football tournament.

UK racecourse owner and operator Arena Racing Company has agreed a deal to distribute audio-visual coverage of South African horse racing to betting shops in the UK and Ireland.

The Gaelic Athletic Association’s (GAA) Kerry County Board will propose a motion at the 2016 GAA Annual Convention to return live coverage of championship matches to free-to-air television in the Republic of Ireland.

Irish telecommunications company Eir has made its first step in owning television content by agreeing a deal to acquire pay-television broadcaster Setanta Sports.

Telco Altice last week blindsided French broadcasters to acquire Premier League rights in the country with a knockout first-round bid.

The Football Association of Ireland has confirmed plans to stream online coverage of every game from the League of Ireland, the top division in the Republic of Ireland, outside of the country from 2016.

Irish public-service broadcaster RTÉ is considering sublicensing on sports rights next year in an effort to generate additional income, according to the Irish Times newspaper.

Pay-television broadcaster BT Sport has acquired rights in the UK and Ireland for the 2015 Hockey World League Finals.

Irish telco Eir has opened discussions over the potential acquisition of pay-television broadcaster Setanta Sports, according to the Irish Times newspaper.

Aggressive bidding from free-to-air broadcasters in Ireland helped the Six Nations Committee double its media rights fee in the territory last week.

Pay-television broadcaster Sky has acquired six packages of rights in the Republic of Ireland for football’s English Premier League.