Irish pay-television broadcaster Eir Sport has acquired rights in the country to a host of World Rugby tournaments, including the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Eir Sport, which was formerly known as Setanta Sports, will show all 48 games live from Japan’s staging of the 2019 World Cup, with 13 of them, including Ireland's pool matches, the opening game, the four quarter-finals, both semi-finals, the bronze final and the final also being shown live on a free-to-air channel that is yet to be launched.
World Rugby, the global governing body of rugby union, said Eir Sport was appointed after a highly competitive tender process for the rights, adding that the deal represents a record financial commitment for the Irish market. Commercial broadcaster TV3 had held the rights to the 2015 World Cup in Ireland.
Under the terms of the new deal, Eir Sport will manage the broadcast of live coverage of all 48 matches and will also deliver a television, digital and mobile highlights offering as well as some additional programming.
For next year’s Women's Rugby World Cup, World Rugby said Eir Sport has committed to roll out an “impressive promotional campaign” around the tournament, which will be staged in Ireland, and all of Ireland's matches plus the final will also be shown live on terrestrial television.
As part of the deal, Eir Sport will also broadcast the World Rugby U20 Championship from 2017-19 and the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, which is being held in the San Francisco Bay area of the United States.