View Full Version : Sky owns NI home game tv rights - 6 million deal - domestic matches included.
Steve Bruce
27/04/2007, 9:13 AM
Looks like NI football is finally going to get a bit of investment.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/international/article2489416.ece
And
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6598357.stm
It was reported in the Sunday World a few weeks back, but I wouldn't take that paper seriously enough untill it is reported somewhere else. Good to see it was right this time.
Sky has lost the rights to conference football (to Setanta) so may show IL games in their place. Would be a massive boost for your league IMO
Steve Bruce
27/04/2007, 9:39 AM
Sky has lost the rights to conference football (to Setanta) so may show IL games in their place. Would be a massive boost for your league IMO
The thing that excites me is the nationwide viewing. There are many northern ireland and Linfield(and other teams) exiles on the mainland and it gives them an opportunity to support there former local team.
It is also an opportunity for local players to showcase there talents to a nationwide audience which might get them noticed by teams across the water.
And thats not counting the financial benefits.
Poor Student
27/04/2007, 9:52 AM
It would be great for domestic Irish football if the IL can get on TV and those funds filter through to the IL. Good luck with that.
Philly
27/04/2007, 9:56 AM
Irish League on Sky?
Good for yas. As soon as the barstoolers down here see your games on TVs in pubs, they'll be ordering jerseys and getting flights up to see your teams every month or two.
AnnaghRed
27/04/2007, 10:26 AM
Irish League on Sky?
Good for yas. As soon as the barstoolers down here see your games on TVs in pubs, they'll be ordering jerseys and getting flights up to see your teams every month or two.
Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?
While the money will come in useful [provided it is spent wisely] I doubt very much if we'll see many live domestic games, and presumably this could spell the end of the IC & CIS Finals being broadcast live.
The beeb will still be screwing us for the licence-fee, while telly-addicts now face subscribing to both Sky and Setanta if they want full coverage.
The jury is definitely still out on this one.
Philly
27/04/2007, 10:45 AM
No you don't.
Any yeah, when Sky done a deal with the FAI there was uproar here, and the Government actually brought in a law stopping it happening again. How has Northern Ireland reacted?
Dodge
27/04/2007, 10:49 AM
Considering it would be the Blair government that could change the law (and they haven't for England, Scotland or Wales), its unlikely (and shouldn't have been changed here either BTW)
Steve Bruce
27/04/2007, 11:32 AM
No you don't.
Any yeah, when Sky done a deal with the FAI there was uproar here, and the Government actually brought in a law stopping it happening again. How has Northern Ireland reacted?
I feel there is a big difference, Sky TV is a british/UK satillite service and the Republic isn't.
Northern Ireland is part of the UK and a UK broadcaster has bought the rights.
Steve Bruce
27/04/2007, 11:33 AM
Irish League on Sky?
Good for yas. As soon as the barstoolers down here see your games on TVs in pubs, they'll be ordering jerseys and getting flights up to see your teams every month or two.
:rolleyes:
What is the point of your sarcasm?
Claret Murph
27/04/2007, 11:41 AM
Not sure on this one , again the north are doing well at the moment so in steps Sky with an offer they can't refuse , now if I was NI fan I am sure that I would be far from happy with it all . I have read a few comments on a Englsh football site and they seem far from happy with the deal .
SwiftsSupporter
27/04/2007, 12:01 PM
Sky tried before I think well for the IL anyway and the IFA let that one slip (apparantly they did more but we'll not go into that) anyway this is massive for the IL really we've been ****ed about with BBC and UTV for years now and I'm sure Sky will step up to the plate.
AnnaghRed
27/04/2007, 12:05 PM
No you don't.
Any yeah, when Sky done a deal with the FAI there was uproar here, and the Government actually brought in a law stopping it happening again. How has Northern Ireland reacted?
Think most are happy to see the BBC get a slap in the bake, but long term i'm not so sure if its the right way to go.
I hope i'm wrong.
Certainly it wont make me rush out and upgrade my Sky package to include the Sports, and for a lot of people the Irish League may simply disappear off the radar.
Dodge
27/04/2007, 12:05 PM
It depends on the deal. if its no highlights package and only 5 live games a season its not really worth it if the deal excludes BBC/UTV from showing anything
Jerry The Saint
27/04/2007, 12:34 PM
I feel there is a big difference, Sky TV is a british/UK satillite service and the Republic isn't.
Northern Ireland is part of the UK and a UK broadcaster has bought the rights.
Dont' think so. Sky is considered a 'home' broadcaster for Ireland as well - this is why FAI clubs were compensated when Sky started broadcasting live games on Sunday afternoons - rather than a channel broadcasting to another country which can be picked up in the republic, such as BBC/ITV.
Steve Bruce
27/04/2007, 1:11 PM
It depends on the deal. if its no highlights package and only 5 live games a season its not really worth it if the deal excludes BBC/UTV from showing anything
So your saying 5 games more than the nothing we get now isn't worth it?
bbc and utv will still show our goals on news broadcasts but Sky are giving us 5 live games that we never had. This is a big step forward and will hopefully mean that we'll gradually get increased to maybe 10 - 20 games a season in the future.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6599507.stm
also 5 times the amount we had before, slap it up them.
bbc and utv will still show our goals on news broadcasts
That was the highlights I was talking about. if the only IL football on any station next year was 5 games on Sky it'd be bad. If its the current stuff on BBC/UTV plus five games its good
Sorry for confusion
AnnaghRed
27/04/2007, 1:44 PM
bbc and utv will still show our goals on news broadcasts
It'll be an improvement if they do, quite often they don't even mention the results!
Some boy on the radio earlier reckons the beeb will scale down on the reasonably comprehensive coverage they put out on a saturday evening.
OneRedArmy
27/04/2007, 1:44 PM
I feel there is a big difference, Sky TV is a british/UK satillite service and the Republic isn't.No it isn't.
Last time I checked Sky was owned by an Australian and has a greater market share in Ireland than it has in the UK.
The point in relation to the Irish legal change was solely related to the fact that the games would be PPV and not terrestrial, therefore limiting the viewership. Its similar to the UK list of "crown jewel" sports events that must be broadcast on free to air channels.
I think the poster above was referring to the British/devolved NI Government potentially protecting Norn Ireland games on terrestrial TV by bringing legislation in such as in place in England and Ireland.
So in summary, not everything in life has to do with Britishness......
Steve Bruce
27/04/2007, 2:00 PM
No it isn't.
Last time I checked Sky was owned by an Australian and has a greater market share in Ireland than it has in the UK.
The point in relation to the Irish legal change was solely related to the fact that the games would be PPV and not terrestrial, therefore limiting the viewership. Its similar to the UK list of "crown jewel" sports events that must be broadcast on free to air channels.
I think the poster above was referring to the British/devolved NI Government potentially protecting Norn Ireland games on terrestrial TV by bringing legislation in such as in place in England and Ireland.
So in summary, not everything in life has to do with Britishness......
Doesn't matter who owns it, its a UK television system and it doesn't matter where it is shown either, if its ROI or Spain, it is still a British television provider. The Sun, News of the World etc are all owned by the same Australian and they are British tabloids.
But anyway, that is off topic completely.
Sky is not a British television providor. It is a television providor that serves Britain and Ireland
OneRedArmy
27/04/2007, 2:08 PM
Doesn't matter who owns it, its a UK television system and it doesn't matter where it is shown either, if its ROI or Spain, it is still a British television provider. The Sun, News of the World etc are all owned by the same Australian and they are British tabloids.
But anyway, that is off topic completely.Explain how it is a UK television system? Because they are headquartered in the UK?!
You misinterpreted the point, deal with it.
Also your follow up examples are also wrong. News of the Screws and the Sun are sold in Ireland, edited, artwork and printed in Dublin with a full editorial team based in Dublin.
Quit when you are behind.
Steve Bruce
27/04/2007, 2:19 PM
Explain how it is a UK television system? Because they are headquartered in the UK?!
You misinterpreted the point, deal with it.
Also your follow up examples are also wrong. News of the Screws and the Sun are sold in Ireland, edited, artwork and printed in Dublin with a full editorial team based in Dublin.
Quit when you are behind.
Yeah they are Irish Editions which is part of the bigger UK group.
BSKYB are Headquartered in the UK, they run UK adverts in every channel and the everything is geared towards the UK market.
They are called British Sky Broadcasting or BSKYB and it is available in the Republic because they have a big interest in British Sport and speak the same language and enjoy other the variety of channels no other broadcaster has.
So yes it is a british company who have a market in the Republic.:rolleyes:
Steve Bruce
27/04/2007, 2:24 PM
Sky is not a British television providor. It is a television providor that serves Britain and Ireland
They provide sky in Spain to. Does that make them a Spanish company to?
It is a British Company that provides countries outside of the UK.
OneRedArmy
27/04/2007, 2:26 PM
BSKYB are Headquartered in the UK, they run UK adverts in every channel and the everything is geared towards the UK market.Republic.:rolleyes:They actually run Irish ads to irish subscribers, but don't let the truth get in the way of your argument....
They provide sky in Spain to. Does that make them a Spanish company to?
They provide the UK or Irish service to Spain. They provide different services to Ireland and the UK and as above, even host different ads. BSkyB is wholly owned by a US listed multinational. They have offices in Dublin too
Jerry The Saint
27/04/2007, 2:41 PM
It's all very simple - Sky broadcasts to Britain AND Ireland. ITV didn't have to pay compensation for showing live football on a Sunday afternoon but Sky Sports do. I don't know why you're trying to turn this into a "Sky is British, just like Northern Ireland" argument:confused:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=104016&p=irol-mediaprofile
BSkyB's ambition is to be the leading entertainment choice in the UK and Ireland. More than 8 million customers - equivalent to almost one in three households in the UK and Ireland - enjoy an unprecedented choice of movies, news, entertainment and sports channels and interactive services on Sky digital, the first and most popular digital pay-TV service in UK and Ireland.
Q. Which countries does Sky operate in?
A. Sky operates principally in the UK and Ireland. Some of Sky's wholly-owned or joint venture channels are distributed across the world by other cable and satellite operators.
There are many northern ireland and Linfield(and other teams) exiles on the mainland
Germany? Belgium? France...? :confused:
In the words of Ali G:
"Iz you 'ere on 'oliday?"
I don't know why you're trying to turn this into a "Sky is British, just like Northern Ireland" argument:confused:
:D
---------
On the deal. Its a good deal for the Irish League IMO, and I'm not sure if it is or isn't a good deal for the NI international team. Although there is a reasonable risk to the scale of the BBC's Saturday afternoon coverage, Sky has quite good production values and so coverage will start to look a lot less like just some bloke with a camcorder. BBCNI and UTV will still be able to offer coverage on their news programs and shows like Season Ticket.
As for NI, its only very recently that there has been consistent live terrestrial coverage of international matches (coinciding with an upturn in fortunes), and the Sky deal presumable ensures that there will be live TV coverage of the games even if the team starts to do badly.
Bottom line, though, is that its a handy amount of cash for the IFA, and they could certainly do with it.
Steve Bruce
27/04/2007, 3:34 PM
It's all very simple - Sky broadcasts to Britain AND Ireland. ITV didn't have to pay compensation for showing live football on a Sunday afternoon but Sky Sports do. I don't know why you're trying to turn this into a "Sky is British, just like Northern Ireland" argument:confused:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=104016&p=irol-mediaprofile
It's nothing to do with Northern Irelands political situation, you are saying that not me. BSkyB is a british firm. But we'll just have to agree to disagree.
Soon enough they will be a world wide firm when they merge with some american company i've never heard of.
Soon enough they will be a world wide firm when they merge with some american company i've never heard of.
They are owned by a US based company (owned primarily by an Aussie)
OneRedArmy
27/04/2007, 3:59 PM
They are owned by a US based company (owned primarily by an Aussie).....both of which used to be part of Britain (is that Rule Britannia I hear playing in the background) :D
It's nothing to do with Northern Irelands political situation, you are saying that not me. BSkyB is a british firm. But we'll just have to agree to disagree.
Soon enough they will be a world wide firm when they merge with some american company i've never heard of.
Whether SKY is British or not is entirely irrelevant. The Nationality of the company had nothing to do with the Irish Governments intervention in the SKY/FAI deal (which was prompted more by a chorus of RTE led whinging than anything else). The issue was the pay per view element(which strictly speaking it wasn't) and denying free to air coverage of Ireland matches.
EalingGreen
27/04/2007, 4:56 PM
Dont' think so. Sky is considered a 'home' broadcaster for Ireland as well - this is why FAI clubs were compensated when Sky started broadcasting live games on Sunday afternoons - rather than a channel broadcasting to another country which can be picked up in the republic, such as BBC/ITV.
I may be wrong, but I thought the compensation agreed for FAI clubs was a UEFA requirement. The reason why Sky Premiership matches kick off at 4 pm on a Sunday is because that is 5 pm in Continental Europe i.e. when Sunday afternoon matches kicking off at 3 pm local time have finished. UEFA were worried that crowds in less popular leagues in Belgium, Holland, Scandinavia etc would suffer if local fans could instead watch English Premiership football via a satellite dish.
Therefore, since it is in the same time zone as the UK (unlike the rest of Europe, barring Portugal) the FAI could have insisted that UEFA ensure that English Premiership games be scrambled by Sky for transmission in the Republic; presumably they preferred the compensation.
If ITV did not pay compensation to FAI clubs in similar circumstances, that will have been because they are a terrestrial channel (That UTV can be picked up in Border areas is by-the-by; perhaps UEFA felt sorry for people who have to live in Cavan etc? ;) )
EalingGreen
27/04/2007, 5:03 PM
Whether SKY is British or not is entirely irrelevant. The Nationality of the company had nothing to do with the Irish Governments intervention in the SKY/FAI deal (which was prompted more by a chorus of RTE led whinging than anything else). The issue was the pay per view element(which strictly speaking it wasn't) and denying free to air coverage of Ireland matches.
Sounds about right to me, especially the RTE whinging bit.
P.S. Technically speaking, British Sky Broadcasting is not "British" in the same way as Guinness is not "Irish". ;)
...perhaps UEFA felt sorry for people who have to live in Cavan etc? ;) )
Perhaps. There are lots of reasons to feel sorry for people who have to live in Cavan! :D
OneRedArmy
28/04/2007, 12:40 AM
P.S. Technically speaking, British Sky Broadcasting is not "British" in the same way as Guinness is not "Irish". ;)Almost correct. Guinness is only brewed in James' Gate since they closed Park Royal down, but Diageo is British headquartered and listed.
Again, all by the by, as the blueman completely misinterpreted the thread in his eagerness to display how British he is.
Poor Student
28/04/2007, 1:08 PM
Lads, anymore discussion on the Britishness/Internationalness of Sky and I'll close the thread. It's blown from a minor misunderstanding into a full blown petty off topic discussion. Focus on the deal and its pros and cons.
Schumi
29/04/2007, 8:07 PM
Also if I'm not mistaken your current tv deal is a tie in with internationals to, so please don't give me your high horse crap.i don't think that's true now. Setanta and TG4 don't show Irish internationals and have a good few live league games each. RTÉ's deal may be related to their international deal, I'm not sure.
LeviathanNI
01/05/2007, 12:49 AM
Yeeeeooo!! Anyway, I think it is a great deal for the National team and our League, and will hopefully give us that much needed exposure.. I also hope, in a stange twist, that it give the Beeb a boot in the hole, and they produce the highlights package we have been asking for for years.
Added to the Setanta coverage, all in all, the future is looking bright(er).
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