ummm, wrote: Sky won't have exclusive rights. They will be covering the Pro12 along with the other broadcasters, not in place of them.

ah good stuff :whistle: :lol:

Scrum.com saying 125/135 games to be shown live.

I don't think we can complain if that happens

Yeah, looks like ummm is right according to the Irish Times:

www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/sky-sport...-from-2014-1.1380411

Celtic Rugby says it is still in negotiations with other broadcasters, and will announce further agreements in due course.

Sky won't have exclusive rights. They will be covering the Pro12 along with the other broadcasters, not in place of them.

Celtic Rugby Announce Sky Sports Deal

Celtic Rugby are pleased to announce that for the first time ever Sky Sports will show live matches from the RaboDirect PRO12.

The agreement will commence at the start of the 2014/15 tournament and will last for 4 years. Sky Sports will broadcast 30 live matches per season as well as the Play-Offs and Final.

John Feehan, Chief Executive said: “The RaboDirect PRO12 features the top teams from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy. Our competition is thriving with increased numbers going through turnstiles as well as increased TV audiences.

“The quality of our competition is such that 24 out of the 37 players selected for the 2013 Lions Tour to Australia play in the RaboDirect PRO 12.

“We believe that this agreement with Sky will allow us to bring our Tournament to an even bigger television audience.

“This is a milestone for Celtic Rugby as it is our first ever Network coverage deal in the UK and Ireland.

Celtic Rugby are still in negotiations with other broadcasters and will be announcing further agreements in due course.

only 30 games a season? thats a game a week with an extra 5 games fixed in then semi's and final.
this cant be good for us in any way, maybe up the attendance tho??!!
maybe tg4 should throw sky a grand or two and they could cover our games? im sure that sky wouldnt be to pushed about losing us

Sheepsean wrote: Very big fan of the current set up in terms of the amount of matches available .Would of course like more for Connacht ,and think for sure, all the home games should be shown between RTE/TG4.

Fair point though about questioning it's effect on attendances.But think the more it's shown on the box with increased exposure,whilst it may damage attendances in the short run but would help them in the long term.(Providing the results are a bit more appealing)

Not at all a fan of Sky intervening ,purely because it will significantly reduce the chance of watching it and it will adversely effect the league.People will go to the pub for a Heineken Cup game ,but not for a Rabo game at 5:00 on a Saturday etc.I don't have Sky Sports and really don't want to get it .

I'd agree on the whole. Don't have sky, won't be getting it, and I'll never go to the pub to watch a league game. I stream the HEC games.

Not sure that TV has that much of an effect on attendances at the moment. The Zebre game was on TV and yet there was about 4k at the game.

swift4prez wrote: since its a very quiet rugby day, incase we lose george, you will never forget this
Harlem Shake

Goat buggery and watching that video are two things I have promised myself I will not lower myself to doing.

The man is an arse.

Very big fan of the current set up in terms of the amount of matches available .Would of course like more for Connacht ,and think for sure, all the home games should be shown between RTE/TG4.

Fair point though about questioning it's effect on attendances.But think the more it's shown on the box with increased exposure,whilst it may damage attendances in the short run but would help them in the long term.(Providing the results are a bit more appealing)

Not at all a fan of Sky intervening ,purely because it will significantly reduce the chance of watching it and it will adversely effect the league.People will go to the pub for a Heineken Cup game ,but not for a Rabo game at 5:00 on a Saturday etc.I don't have Sky Sports and really don't want to get it .

If it means more money then that would be great.

Only downside is how interest in the league has increased massively by being on terrestrial TV.

connachtexile wrote: The good part is we'd lose George Hook The bad news is we'd also lose Máire Treasa Ní Dhubhghaill

It's a tough world.

since its a very quiet rugby day, incase we lose george, you will never forget this
Harlem Shake

connachtexile wrote:

Sky, I think, have lost the Aviva Premiership to BT, so they need a new rugby source. But I can't see them sending cameras to Galway all that often TBH

Yeah they have which is why there suddenly interested in the Rabo. It would be good for the Welsh and Scottish sides I think and the other three provinces are box office but us and the Italians?

The good part is we'd lose George Hook The bad news is we'd also lose Máire Treasa Ní Dhubhghaill

It's a tough world.

Maybe TG4 could keep their piece as its in another language, ditto with SC4......and BBC NI also

Sky, I think, have lost the Aviva Premiership to BT, so they need a new rugby source. But I can't see them sending cameras to Galway all that often TBH

Yeah they have which is why there suddenly interested in the Rabo. It would be good for the Welsh and Scottish sides I think and the other three provinces are box office but us and the Italians?

The good part is we'd lose George Hook The bad news is we'd also lose Máire Treasa Ní Dhubhghaill

It's a tough world.

Hopefully this will stir rte/tg4 and bbc regional/ s4c and alba into action and they will put in a competitive offer. Imo tg4 should leave jerry speak englsh during his analysis and shud have him co commentating in english with main comentator in irish. It works well for alba. His irish is as good as mine which must be very annoying for fluent speakers and we struggle to understand him as well.. I think it would grow the audience in that format. Its an irish language channel afterall but some compromise should be offered to the rest of us. A bilingual commentary team and analysis team would do thst. I dont want to lose their coverage but money talks.
What is this lag they refer to?

As bad as RTE is at least the cash is staying in Ireland.

I was a huge hater of Setanta because we were never on their schedule. Once they replayed a Munster v Leinster match when Connacht were playing, that just shows their contempt for us.

Sky, I think, have lost the Aviva Premiership to BT, so they need a new rugby source. But I can't see them sending cameras to Galway all that often TBH

Kins of agnostic on this:

Sky's rugby coverage is good.

RTE's coverage is pants, but this is a moot point as they don't show us anyway.

TG4 are pretty damn good and give us exposure but they broadcast in a language most Connacht fans don't speak at all or at best struggle with.

And the wider question - is being on TV actually helpful or does it detract from attendances?

One last thought - does this mean Sky are resigned to losing their HEC coverage?

From the Guardian newspaper today:

Sky is in talks with the Celtic unions about securing the exclusive rights to the RaboDirect Pro 12, which are up for tender for the 2014-15 season onwards. As well as injecting money into the tournament, Sky could also help in its projection, helping cut the lag with the Premiership.

This has to affect us badly. Sky only show a few English Premiership games and with Connacht hardly being box office you'd have to figure that we would be on TV a lot less than we are now. It means more money for the league but would that help us when we're trying to grow our supporter base? Thoughts?