The 42

SHAMROCK ROVERS HAVE threatened to ban RTÉ from broadcasting televised coverage of League of Ireland games at Tallaght Stadium for the rest of the 2024 season after the club’s Europa League play-off games against Paok were not picked up by any national broadcaster.

Both legs of Rovers’ tie with the Greek champions will instead be shown live on the LOITV streaming service.

A statement on Monday afternoon said that the club “is considering if it will facilitate any future requests” from RTÉ to show League of Ireland Premier Division fixtures from Tallaght Stadium for the remainder of the domestic campaign.

Rovers fans in Ireland and the UK will be able to stream Thursday’s Europa League play-off first leg against Paok from the Toumba Stadium, Thessaloniki, where kick-off will be at 6:30pm Irish time.

The return leg in Dublin on 29 August will also be available to stream on LOITV, except in Greece and Cyprus.

In a statement on Monday, Rovers lamented the fact that none of the club’s four European ties to date this season have been picked up by terrestrial TV channels in their home country.

Rovers have instead organised for their continental qualifiers to be streamed on LOITV at their own expense.

Stephen Bradley’s men are already guaranteed group-stage European football for just the third time in their history after sealing a 3-2 aggregate victory over Celje at Tallaght Stadium last Thursday. That victory means that, even if Rovers suffer defeat to PAOK over two legs, the League of Ireland champions will compete in the Conference League proper this season.

The Hoops’ group-stage fixtures in either the Europa League or Conference League will be shown live on Premier Sports, who are the exclusive rightsholders for both competitions in Ireland.

But having again failed to secure a television home for their Europa League play-off tie with Paok, Rovers are considering action which would prevent RTÉ — the League of Ireland’s longest-term rightsholders — from broadcasting league games from Tallaght for the remainder of the 2024 campaign.

“The club exhausted every avenue across the four rounds of European matches to deliver matches on a free-to-air national broadcaster, but to no avail,” Rovers’ statement said. “Live streaming has provided fans with the option to follow the Hoops home and away in Europe in July and August.

“It has been a disappointment that these thrilling games have not been showcased to a wider Irish audience; the drama of a last minute penalty miss in our first home tie advancing the team to UCL QR2, 9,500 fans packed into Tallaght Stadium for a great match against Sparta Prague game and, finally, the turnaround from an away first leg loss to beat Celje in extra time to make the UECL League phase (at a minimum).

“And now, the visit of PAOK will not be broadcast on terrestrial Irish TV.

“The club is considering if it will facilitate any future requests from the national broadcaster to show SSE Airtricity Premier Division fixtures from Tallaght Stadium in 2024.”

Written by Gavan Casey and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.