If you were looking for coverage of the Dublin Vs Galway match in the Walsh Cup on Saturday you wil have been steered towards the relatively new Clubber TV streaming service.

It has signed the first media rights deal in Leinster GAA history, commencing with the broadcast of the 2023 Walsh Cup and O’Byrne Cup competitions.

One of the men behind the new service which has an ambition “to cater for sports fans across a wide range of domestic and international sports codes,” is former RTÉ and United Rugby Championship executive Dermot Rigley.

“This deal is significant for Clubber TV, in partnering up with Leinster GAA, we have now provided one easy location for GAA fans across all counties to watch high-quality games, including Walsh & O’Byrne Cup, Club games and school competitions over the next 12 months,” he said.

“This partnership is part of our overall rights acquisition strategy, and we look forward to making more announcements in the coming months with regards providing great sport for fans on Clubber TV.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Leinster GAA,” added CEO and co-founder Jimmy Doyle, pictured above with Leinster GAA Chair Pat Teehan.

“As an Irish company, it’s very pleasing for us to be able to bring these games to life for all the people who are unable to attend in person. It’s an important step in our evolution as a company as we look to build a portfolio of sports going forward.”

The game between Dublin and Galway was streamed live with full commentary and cost €11.99, a price that a number of hurling fans we spoke to were happy to pay and then watch as a group.

The explosion of streaming services has raised expectations among fans that whatever they want to see can be seen. The 123.ie Irish National U23 Athletics Championships were streamed at the same time on Saturday, albeit free of charge and Basketballtv.ie has been a positive addition to the mix this season.

It is not clear yet whether this will mean the end for individual county streaming services like DubsTV which previously would have been the first port of call for Saturday’s match.

“We are delighted to announce today’s groundbreaking partnership. It gives us not only the ability to
give people access to games they may not otherwise have seen, but also to guarantee a
consistent level of production across all Leinster GAA games,” said Pat Teehan.

“We hope this is the start of great relationship.”