The Toughest Trade, AIB’s two-part documentary film following Irish and international sports stars as they swap sports for a week is switching from TV3 to RTÉ2.
The programmes will air in early March in the lead up to the AIB GAA All-Ireland Club Championship Finals on St Patrick’s Day.
The series, part of AIB’s #TheToughest campaign, will take a fresh, in-depth look at how other professional sports compare to the amateur AIB GAA Club Championships.
Experiencing the ‘trade’ for the programme will be Tipperary hurler Brendan Maher and Mayo footballer Aidan O‘Shea.
Hurler Brendan Maher will swap the blue and gold of Tipperary for a spell in whites for cricket and the Adelaide Strikers, while Ashes winning English cricketer, Steve Harmison, will experience hurling for the first time with Maher’s club Borris-ileigh in Tipperary.
All Ireland Finalist and All Star Aidan O’Shea is trading countries and sports with ex Miami Dolphin Roberto Wallace as he tries American Football while Wallace travels to Breaffy GAA Club in Mayo.
The idea was trialled for the first time last year as a highlight of AIB’s trading up their own engagement with Gaelic Games through adding the All Ireland Football Championship to their more than 20 year partnership with the Club Championships.
It was developed as a concept by advertising agency Rothco and brought the idea of native content in programming to a level previously unseen in an Irish context.
RTÉ2 will also have comprehensive highlights of the AIB GAA All-Ireland Club Championship Finals on St Patrick’s Day.
“RTÉ2 is the home of live sport as well as the home of cutting edge innovative documentaries,” said RTÉ2 Controller Bill Malone.
“This coupled with our large audience of sport-savvy younger viewers makes The Toughest Trade a perfect fit for us.”
“We are delighted to have RTÉ2 as our broadcast partner for The Toughest Trade.,” added AIB Group Brands Director Brian Keating.”
“We’ve long believed that the AIB GAA Club Championships could be the toughest sporting tournament in the world – something we challenge in The Toughest Trade – and now through RTÉ2, we can bring our story to an all-island viewership.”
Here’s Keating chatting with Rob Hartnett of Sport for Business at our Digital Sport event 15 months ago about AIB’s involvement with community, sport and the GAA.
