The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), the governing body of rugby union in Ireland, has defended the structure of its new rights deal for autumn international matches that will mean many fans in Northern Ireland will miss out on live games.
In January, the Republic of Ireland’s public-service broadcaster RTÉ extended a rights deal for Ireland’s autumn internationals for four years, from 2014 to 2017, while pay-television broadcaster BSkyB secured the rights across the UK. Both of the deals were struck with the IRFU.
Under the agreements, RTÉ will block the freeview signal in Northern Ireland, leaving Sky Sports as the sole provider of live coverage. Irish rugby organises itself on a 32-county basis across both Ireland and Northern Ireland and critics have claimed the new broadcast deal disadvantages Northern Irish fans.
However, the IRFU, which governs the game in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, told the Belfast Newsletter website: “Irish Rugby has to strike the balance between making the game available to as wide an audience as possible while also acknowledging its responsibility to support, develop and fund the game from the grassroots through to the elite professional levels.”