The UEFA Champions League will be on the minds of a packed Tallaght Stadium tonight when Shamrock Rovers face Sparta Prague in the second qualifying round of the tournament.
If they win, they are one game away from the group stage, millions in payments, and the glory of European nights in Dublin. Their opponents in that would be either Steaua Bucharest or Maccabi Tel Aviv, of which more later.
The task tonight and next week is a stiff one, though. Sparta Prague has a rich European heritage, with wins over Inter Milan, Lazio, and Celtic over the years. However, they were knocked out of the Europa League last season in the round of 16 by Liverpool.
They have six members of their first team who have played at the Euros in recent weeks: three for four for Czechia and one each for Serbia and Albania.
It is not clear yet whether any of them will be in action tonight as they are only coming back into pre-season and that is where Rovers may have an edge.
There has been talk of disappointment over the game not featuring on ‘free-to-air’ TV, but in a packed summer of sport, executives might feel that they need to offer an alternative to wall-to-wall sport.
The game will be visible on LOITV, the FAI and League of Ireland streaming service that carries every game in the domestic arena for an annual, half-year or game-by-game subscription.
Tonight’s game would cost €10 to stream, less than the value of the time that some would extend on giving out across various media and social media channels that the game is not being televised.
We’ve been here before with the argument about media and sport being no different in terms of a fair exchange of value to other forms of entertainment. Watching the game with your friends or family for less than the price of a single ticket to Despicable Me 4, well, we know which side we come down on.
Back then to the potential of facing an Israeli side in the next round of games. Basketball Ireland has faced intense scrutiny and criticism for playing against Israel in an underage Euro qualifier earlier in the year, and with UEFA not acting against Israel in the same way they have against Russia, the prospect of further strife is now on the horizon.
Indeed doubling down on this St Patrick’s Athletic could also be in the same position with Maccabi Haifa of Israel one of two possible opponents for them if they get past Vaduz of Latvia over the next two legs of their qualifier for the Europa Conference League.
More than a game as they say.
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