Irish public-service broadcaster RTÉ has reached an agreement to sub-licence commercial broadcaster TV3 rights to 22 of the 51 matches at the Uefa Euro 2016 national team football tournament.
The agreement, which is the first of its kind between the two Irish broadcasters, will see RTÉ retain rights for 30 matches, including all of Ireland’s matches, and grants exclusive rights to TV3 for 21 games. Both RTÉ and TV3 will share rights for the final.
RTÉ’s coverage of the group stages includes all three Ireland games, the three Wales matches, two of Northern Ireland’s encounters and one England fixture. RTÉ will also have exclusive live coverage of five Round of 16 games, two quarter-finals and both semi-finals.
RTÉ will retain first choice on matches in the knockout stages and will broadcast a highlights programme on each night of the tournament.
TV3 will show 16 of the 36 matches in the group stages, including Northern Ireland’s meeting with Ukraine, and England’s opening and closing games against Russia and Slovakia. The broadcaster will show three of the eight Round of 16 matches and two quarter-finals.
RTÉ confirmed in December that it would open an invitation to tender process on January 5, with a deadline for bids set for January 15. RTÉ stressed at the time that there was no guarantee that any games would be sublicensed to another broadcaster, saying it was simply seeking expressions of interest and was not obliged to sell.
Group head of RTÉ Sport Ryle Nugent said: “In an increasingly competitive and high-cost sports rights market, RTÉ has sought a solution to secure and deliver sport to the Irish audience. RTÉ is delighted to partner with TV3, another Irish broadcaster, to ensure that the Uefa Euro 2016 finals are delivered to Irish audiences free-to-air.”
Ireland will be one of 24 teams competing at Euro 2016 and has been drawn alongside Belgium, Italy and Sweden in Group E. The tournament takes place in France from June 10 to July 10.