Irish sports broadcaster eir Sport and public-service broadcaster RTÉ have reached an agreement for rights to next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Eir Sport will serve as the primary rights-holders and show all 48 tournament matches live, including all Ireland fixtures and a daily highlights show.
RTÉ Sport will show 14 live matches from the tournament, including all of Ireland’s matches, the knockout stages and a daily highlights shows.
RTÉ has sublicensed the rights from eir Sport. RTÉ’s coverage will be shown on the RTÉ2 channel and live and on-demand through RTÉ Player.
Eir Sport acquired rights to the tournament in 2016 as part of a package that also included coverage of the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
Susan Brady, managing director of consumer and small business marketing at eir, said: “We are delighted to have come to this agreement with RTÉ which again shows the changing nature of the sports broadcasting landscape in Ireland where we’re happy to work together to give Irish sports fans the best possible choice and content.”
Ireland has been drawn alongside Scotland, Russia, Samoa and host nation Japan in Pool A for next year’s Rugby World Cup, which will take place from September 20 to November 2.