Eir has formally confirmed that its eir sport channels will cease broadcasting by the end of 2021. The news was expected and the rights holders with whom it has had a relationship down the years, including the GAA and Pro 14 Rugby have been prepared with no negotiation taking place on a renewal of those rights.

In March it said it was considering options for the future of its sports broadcast service but the writing was on the wall that the main option was to be closure.

Staff were informed yesterday that the station will continue its coverage of the Allianz Leagues and the Guinness Pro 14 Rainbow Cup but that will be it.

It has been a whirlwind five years for the station which was borne out of Setanta Sport headed by Mickey O’Rourke and then headed up by talented individuals including Glen Killane, Brian Quinn and Susan Brady.

 

Sport for Business has covered the stories throughout and here is a selection of the best bits.

 

July 2016

eir Sport Goes Free for Broadband

“Sport is a birthright and a passion. All the highs and the lows, the agony and the ecstasy… it all matters. We believe the time has come for sport to be unleashed and set free.” So stated the first promotional messaging for eir Sport, the new player in the sports rights and broadcast arenas formed by the takeover of Setanta Sport by eir.

Free in the context of eir Sport will be so for those who either already are or are willing to switch to becoming customers of eir broadband.

This follows the same model as BT Sport in the UK and the clincher for eir in the early stages of this adventure will be the inclusion of the four BT Sport packages in the eir Sport bundle. That’s all the UEFA Champions League, a major chunk of the Premier League, European Champions Cup in Rugby, Conor McGregor and UFC, NBA Basketball and much more.

But that was only the start. eir Sport chose their launch to reveal they had succeeded in winning the rights to the Women’s Rugby World Cup to be held in Ireland next year and the next Men’s edition to be he’d in Japan in 2019.

 

October 2016

Ireland All Blacks for Prime Time on eir Sport

“Following on from our 2019 Rugby World Cup rights announcement we are delighted to confirm more international rugby with New Zealand v Ireland live from Chicago on Saturday, November 5th,” said Brian Quinn Operations Director of eir Sport commented.

“It promises to be a fantastic occasion and really adds to our ever growing selection of rugby content.”

“Along with the confirmation of the Conor McGregor v Eddie Alvarez UFC 205 lightweight title fight on Saturday, November 12th, this is more good news for eir Broadband bundle customers, who can receive all of this great sport for free.”

 

January 2017

eir Sport Reveals Game Changing Trio for GAA

eir Sport has announced details of its coverage of the forthcoming Allianz Leagues which includes a historic Irish broadcasting first.

The number of games being broadcast live is rising to 23 from 17 which have previously been broadcast on what was previously known as Setanta Sport.

Within the expanded schedule eir Sport will be the first Irish broadcaster to show three live games simultaneously across its channels.

 

March 2017

eir Sport Seal GAA Club Broadcast Expansion

Today’s announcement marks a significant increase in the GAA offering available through the eir Sport pack, which is already home to live coverage of the Allianz Leagues with 23 games shown this season.

In addition to broadcast rights, eir Sport has online clip rights for the Club Championships, Allianz Leagues and Senior Championship games. eir Sport also has archive rights to show replays of classic GAA matches and eir is an official sponsor of the GAA Football All-Ireland Championship.

“Today’s announcement is a moment of immense pride for eir Sport,” said Glen Killane MD of eir TV & Sport.

“Our goal has been to show the live sport Irish fans want to see and this season we will show up to 30 AIB GAA Club Championship games which will significantly expand the number of games fans can watch on TV and mobile.”

 

August 2017

eir Sport Unveils Team for Women’s Rugby World Cup

eir Sport has unveiled its broadcast team for its coverage of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 which gets underway at UCD in Dublin today.

Former Ireland Head Coach Eddie O’Sullivan will be joined by recently retired Ireland international Tania Rosser and current Ireland international Kim Flood for studio analysis of each encounter with coverage fronted by Des Curran.

Meanwhile, former Ireland full-back Sarah Jane Belton will be on co-commentary duty with eir Sports’ Conor Morris.

eir Sports’ coverage of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 features every game from the tournament including all Irish games and the final. Ireland’s pool games in the UCD Bowl, Dublin against Australia on 9th August, Japan on 13th August and France on 17th August will all be live on eir Sport.

 

August 2017

eir Sport Strikes Deal with US PGA

eir Sport has pounced late and secured rights to broadcast live coverage of the final golf major of the year, the US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

All four days of the event, which starts this Thursday, August 10th and runs to Sunday, August 13th, will be live on eir Sport as Jordon Spieth gets his first opportunity to complete a career Grand Slam following his recent success at the Open Championship.

Sky Sports lost the rights to the tournament last month and it had looked as though only limited coverage on the BBC would be the extent of the coverage for Irish golf fans.

May 2018

Pro14 and eir Sport Confirm Deal

For the first time, every game in the Guinness PRO14 will be shown in one place for Irish viewers and that place is what was styled yesterday as ‘The new home of Rugby in Ireland’ on eir sport.

The deal for Irish rights follows hot on the heels of a similar announcement with Premier Sports covering Britain and Northern Ireland and will see a significant investment from the broadcasters not only in the rights but also in the quality of the broadcast.

eir Sport will show every game as part of the eir Sport pack which is free to eir Broadband subscribers and available to pay for on a subscription basis through the Sky TV platform.

It will show more than 30 hours a week of PRO 14 rugby related coverage as well as action from the European Champions’ Cup, via its tie-up with BT Sport.

The coverage will be broadcast from a state-of-the-art studio which has recently been redeveloped.

November 2018

Rugby World Cup for RTÉ as well as eir Sport

“There has never been such an exciting time in Irish rugby and, following the recent win against the All Blacks, we’re heading to Japan with a real chance of lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy,” said Susan Brady, Managing Director of eir Sport.

“eir sport will be there every step of the way with all 48 games live including every Ireland game and the knock out stages.”

“We are delighted to have come to this agreement with RTÉ which again shows the changing nature of the sports broadcasting landscape in Ireland where we’re happy to work together to give Irish sports fans the best possible choice and content.”

 

January 2019

RTÉ to Share Allianz Leagues with eir Sport

RTÉ is to step up the number of GAA matches it broadcasts this year and for the next three years. It will now show four games from the Allianz National League that will be broadcast simultaneously on eir Sport.

The subscription channel has been the sole broadcaster on Saturday night games in the League since it first got involved as Setanta Sport in 2005.
It won the rights to Saturday night games again in the last round of media rights negotiation two years ago but this move could be seen as the start of a step away from maintaining exclusivity.

The two channels last year reached an agreement on shared broadcasting of this year’s Rugby World Cup, mirroring the same agreement they had for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2017.

 

September 2019

eir Sport Optimistic Ahead of Rugby World Cup

“eir sport and the eir sport pack go from strength to strength,” said an optimistic Susan Brady, Managing Director of eir Sport.

“We have more great sports content than ever for Irish sports fans to enjoy in one place.

“In the coming weeks rugby fans won’t miss a second of the action in the Rugby World Cup and the team both on-air and behind the scenes are working extremely hard to ensure top class, innovative coverage.”

“We are also very excited about our second season as the home of the Guinness PRO14 and how that will be boosted by the surge in optimism around the sport as well as the continued success of the Irish provinces.”

“Following our recent agreement with Virgin Media Sport, fans will also be able to see all the best European soccer action on the eir sport pack.”

 

March 2020

eir Sport Backing SSE Airtricity League

“We are delighted to announce that eir sport will broadcast 15 SSE Airtricity League fixtures over the coming months,” said eir Sport Managing Director Susan Brady. “Fans of the game are set for the most exciting season yet with eir sports coverage showcasing some of the biggest stars of Irish football.”

“We will also continue to show every Republic of Ireland home U-21 qualifiers as the Boys in Green continue on the road to Hungary and Slovenia.”

 

April 2020

eir Sport to Show Collection of Greatest Sporting Moments

eir sport has announced details of a catalogue of great sporting moments that it will be showing over the coming weeks and months.
George Best, Mohammed Ali, Pele, Brian O’Driscoll, Sonia O’Sullivan and Heffo’s Army will feature as part of a range of classic matches, tournaments, fights and films all being scheduled to counter the lack of live sporting action.

“At eir sport, we are committed to delivering the very best sporting content to our fans and have been working hard in recent weeks to fill the void left by the absence of live sport,” said Managing Director Susan Brady.

“We are really excited to announce details of our eir sport gold catalogue and hope the range of classic sporting memories and content will be enjoyed by sports fans across the country.”

“The newest catalogue will showcase a host of iconic matches for viewers to relive alongside a variety of exclusive content, award-winning documentaries, films and much more besides.”

 

March 2021

eir Preparing to Exit

The broadcaster’s enthusiasm for being a sports broadcaster waned significantly following its purchase by new French owners in 2018.

Prior to that it had been a strong player as the ‘home of rugby’ and indeed had been a rights holder for both Men’s and Women’s Rugby World Cups.

The departure of senior executives Glen Killane and Brian Quinn, as well as Gordon Britchfield, seemed an indication that the high hopes of the previous years had disappeared.

A public row with Virgin media last year, which resulted in the channels being removed from the Virgin platform increased the feeling that a wider exit was likely.

The second half of 2020 saw revenues in the TV and Sports content division fall from €20 million to €12 million, representing less than five per cent of the company’s overall revenue.

 

 

 

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