THE ALL-IRELAND Senior Football Championship quarter-finals are among a list of 14 sports events which are being considered for broadcast on free-to-air TV.

The Minister for Sport, Catherine Martin, has announced a public consultation as part of the statutory review of the major sporting events designated as free-to-air TV broadcasts.

Some of the sports events listed are already available on free-to-air TV while nine of them are being considered “for a designation to achieve equivalence for women’s sport,” according to a statement released today.

Last year’s All-Ireland quarter-finals of Kerry v Tyrone and Armagh v Monaghan were covered by GAAGO, the controversial online streaming platform. GAAGO was previously a subscription service for broadcasting matches to GAA’s international fan base, but entered the domestic market for the 2023 season.

This caused criticism among the GAA community, prompting a public outcry for some championship matches to be reinstated on terrestrial television. 

The men’s and women’s Uefa Nations Leagues are also included as well as Ireland’s home and away qualifiers for both the Women’s Euros and World Cup tournaments. 

Ireland’s matches in the men’s Six Nations would also change from deferred to live coverage.

The full list includes:

• The quarter and semi-finals of the All-Ireland Senior Football and Senior Hurling Championships 
• The finals of the Senior Football and Hurling Provincial Championships 
• The quarter and semi-finals of the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship
• The finals of the Provincial Camogie Championship
• The quarter and semi-finals of the All-Ireland Senior Ladies’ Football Championship 
• The finals of the Senior Ladies’ Provincial Football Championship
• Ireland’s games in the UEFA Nations League (men’s)
• Ireland’s games in the UEFA Women’s Nations League
• Ireland’s home and away qualifying games in, and the opening games, Ireland’s games, and the semi-finals and final of, the FIFA Women’s World Cup Tournament
• Ireland’s home and away qualifying games in, the opening games, Ireland’s games, the semi-finals and final of the UEFA European Women’s Football Championship
• Ireland’s games in the Men’s Six Nations Rugby Championship (change from current “deferred” broadcast designation to “live” broadcast)
• Ireland’s games in the Women’s Six Nations Rugby Football Championship
• Ireland’s games in the Women’s Rugby World Cup Finals Tournament
• The final of the European Rugby Champions Cup – should an Irish provincial team be represented

Today’s statement adds:

“The aim of designating events as free to air is to try to balance the rights of the sporting bodies to exploit commercial opportunities afforded by their broadcasting rights and the needs of society to engage, as a whole, with culturally significant events, which act as a focal point for society and create a sense of national identity and pride.”

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