Gaelic Sports

Irish-language free-to-air broadcaster TG4 has struck a four-year extension to its broadcast rights and sponsorship agreement with the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, on the back of a record year for the organisation.

Ireland’s Gaelic Athletic Association has been met with a fresh challenge to its rights deal with pay-television broadcaster Sky Sports after the Roscommon County Board passed a motion calling on the body to end the contract.

Ireland’s Gaelic Athletic Association is set to strike a five-year extension to its rights deals with public-service broadcaster RTÉ and pay-television broadcaster Sky, according to the Irish Independent.

Pay-television broadcaster Sky will retain the ability to extend its rights deal with the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland after a motion to make all televised championship games available free to air was defeated.

Paraic Duffy, director general of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, has stated his desire to extend contracts with pay-television broadcasters, despite calls for games to return to free-to-air channels.

The Gaelic Athletic Association’s (GAA) Kerry County Board will propose a motion at the 2016 GAA Annual Convention to return live coverage of championship matches to free-to-air television in the Republic of Ireland.

Gaelic Athletic Association president Aogán Ó Fearghail has labelled coverage from Irish public-service broadcaster RTÉ as “tiresome” and “consistent in its negativity”, adding it could be a factor when it comes to negotiating a new rights deal.

Three County Clare clubs have formed motions to their county convention seeking free to air television coverage of Gaelic Athletic Association Championship matches beyond the expiry of the current broadcast deal in 2017, according to the Irish Independent.

The Gaelic Athletic Association and Irish public-service broadcaster RTÉ have said they will more than double the number of games provided through GAAGO in 2015, after a successful debut for the online streaming service this year.

The Irish government is set to undertake a review of the showpiece sporting events that are protected for free-to-air broadcasting in the country.