Irish pay-television broadcaster Setanta Sports has agreed a two-season deal for highlights of the Premiership, the top tier of English club rugby union.
Under the terms of the contract, Setanta will show the Premiership Rugby Highlights Programme for every round during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
Michael O'Rourke, founder and chief executive of Setanta Ireland, said: “The appetite for top-quality rugby has never been higher in Ireland and Aviva Premiership Rugby highlights on our Setanta Ireland channel is the perfect complement to the 69 live Aviva Premiership Rugby games that we carry on our BT Sport channels.”
Premiership Rugby in March agreed a four-season extension to its exclusive rights deal with UK pay-television broadcaster BT Sport. BT Sport holds a four-season deal, from 2013-14 to 2016-17, for domestic rights to Premiership matches.
The new contract takes in the 2017-18 to 2020-21 seasons and covers broadcast rights for up to 80 live Premiership matches per season, up from the current maximum of 69.