RTÉ has announced that it has secured live broadcast rights to a select number of Heineken Champions Cup games, for the next two seasons, including host broadcaster rights for the final in Dublin this May.
The agreement sees RTÉ providing live free-to-air coverage of eight games per season across 2022-2024.
This is in addition to the shared coverage with Virgin Media of the Guinness Six Nations as well as the Women’s and U20 Six Nations, and extensive free-to-air coverage of the United Rugby Championship.
The first four games have been confirmed as featuring two home games for each of Munster and Leinster Rugby.
Munster’s home games against Stade Toulouse and Northampton Saints on December 11th and January 14th, both with afternoon stars will be shown live, as will Leinster’s home games against Gloucester on Friday night, December 16th and against Racing 92 on Saturday, January 21st.
RTÉ will broadcast live coverage of one game from each subsequent round up to and including the final in Dublin on Saturday 20th of May 2023.
“The Heineken Champions Cup is a tournament that is much loved and followed by fans throughout the country,” said Declan McBennett, Head of Sport at RTÉ.
“This agreement enables us to deliver live free-to-air coverage of the tournament over the next two seasons and to host broadcast the final this season which takes place in Dublin in May.”
RTÉ will also continue to cover the Heineken Champions Cup on RTÉ Radio 1.
The tournament was off free-to-air up until 2018 when it returned in a limited fashion to Virgin Media in Ireland and Channel 4 in Britain. That deal ran up until the end of the 2022 season.
