RTEngland?

[Pauro 76]

Hoping to catch the cup semi-finals wherever they are, but just wondering are they being shown live on d'telly this year? And if so is it RTEngland or TV3? and has Setanta ever shown LOI or FAI cup footy in case I miss it?

[pete]

Would assume it be RTE if any station. This the norm that RTE show the semis & finals live.

[Dodge]

AFAIK RTE is obliged to show both Semi Finals and the Final

[ger121]

Good. The next time the FAI sells the rights to the Irish internationals they should also include an Eircom League package too.

In other words if RTE/TV3 or even sky wish to show the Irish team's games, they should also have to show a certain amount of el games.

I know they show the semis and final of the FAI cup and TV3 are to show 3/4 el games but does anyone think this is enough.

The FAI know that the TV networks want to show Ireland's matchs so in effect they have them over a barrel. So do they do it? I'm afraid not!!!

Maybe it's about time they did.

[tiktok]

Originally posted by ger121
Good. The next time the FAI sells the rights to the Irish internationals they should also include an Eircom League package too

I'm afraid they do Ger, the rights to the EL form part of the package that you but when you get the international games, but the media have no interest and cast it aside, or do little with it(just enough to fulfill the minimum requirments - George Hook referrred to it in a Sunday Indo article calling the League of ireland is a noose around the neck of the FAI).

Pauro 7 - AFAIK Setanta will be showing the FAI cup Final, don't know if they carry the semi's though.

[CollegeTillIDie]

In another thread the view was expressed that in order to fill Lansdowne Road, or at least have it looking more than half full, for the F.A.I. Cup final we would need to have a City V Country Final on the day.

It seems those of us who agree with this view seem to have been in luck. The Semi-final draw was "rigged" ( not deliberately you understand) the way most of us would have wanted with 1 all City semi-final pairing and 1 all country semi-final pairing.

There are two very attractive semi-finals on offer and the possibility of a some very interesting Cup Final pairings. Speaking as a neutral on this one I would like to see one or both of the semi-finals subject to my own club's League fixture program.

I would imagine that, given the terms of the recent TV deal as I understand them, RTEngland will be required to show both of them and I certainly hope they do.

I must point out that it is not only RTEngland's TV division that has a contemptuous attitude to our League. The Irish TImes has long since given up covering the First Division. The Evening Herald is practically an advertising organ for the English FA Premiership.
The average member of the great unwashed populous who have never been to an EL game but can still give the so called expert opinion " ah the League of Ireland is ****e!" are reflected in the attitude of our media.

We, as a National League, are in trouble when our own Prime Minister supports Man United instead of Bohemians, Shelbourne or St. Patricks Athletic, all of whom at different times have been within his constituency.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair doesn't support foreign teams from neighbouring countries. Can you imagine how ridiculous it would be if Blair was an Olympique Marseilles supporter? Or Germany's Gerhard Schroeder , supported Ajax Amsterdam ? Preposterous !Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi loves AC Milan so much he bought them ! Blair supports Newcastle United, but at least he is an Englishman !

And yet the media doesn't criticise him for this at all .They ought to criticise him for supporting Man United at least as much as for his support of the anti-smoking legislation( which might actually prove to be a good idea in the long run). But they cannot because most of them support Man United themselves and see nothing wrong with doing so while at the same denigrating our own League. The vast majority of people in this country who support foreign football to the exclusion of our own ( The Bohs/ Man City fans and the Shamrock Rovers/Man Utd fans are excluded from this comment) should burn their Irish Passports because they don't deserve the right to hold them. The same goes for those media hacks who feel the same way .:ball:

[kdjaC]

Afaik Sky had the rights to the FAI Semis and Final but never used them.

Whether they in this new new deal i dont know.

kdjac

[John83]

Originally posted by CollegeTillIDie
The average member of the great unwashed populous who have never been to an EL game but can still give the so called expert opinion " ah the League of Ireland is ****e!" are reflected in the attitude of our media.

We, as a National League, are in trouble when our own Prime Minister supports Man United instead of Bohemians, Shelbourne or St. Patricks Athletic, all of whom at different times have been within his constituency.

...The vast majority of people in this country who support foreign football to the exclusion of our own ( The Bohs/ Man City fans and the Shamrock Rovers/Man Utd fans are excluded from this comment) should burn their Irish Passports because they don't deserve the right to hold them. The same goes for those media hacks who feel the same way .:ball:

The "average member of the great unwashed populous" can look at the fact that no LoI team has gotten past the second qualifying round of the CL, and justifiably say that the league's best teams aren't very good at all. Not to say that they can't be entertaining, but that's usually secondary with people.

I could give a toss who Bertie supports. I didn't know who Blair supported before you mentioned it, and I was no worse for it. It doesn't matter. If the league teams could prove themselves a match for the Man Utds and Liverpools, then people here would support them.

I don't think my brothers are any less Irish than I am for not supporting an eL team - they support Liverpool, Aston Villa and Celtic, but it doesn't matter to me. No one in the eL is a match for these teams - not my local UCD, not Shels, not Bohs, not anyone.

If you want to be that narrow-minded, maybe you should burn your passport, for supporting a garrison game instead of your own fine national sports of bog-ball and schtick-fighting.

[opplock]

To be fair to Bertie (not that he's given me or the country any cause to be fair to him) his first love as a soccer team were Drumcondra. It's not his fault that they still don't exist......

[gspain]

I'm no fan of Bertie particularly after the stadium fiasco but he was a Drums man.

BTW he was also a Chelsea fan before turning to Manyoo at the time of the Munich disaster. Got this from a former classmate who was then the only Chelsea fan left in the class. Although he was 6 at the time

[patsh]

RTE will be showing both semi-finals live. These 2 games will make 4 live games so far, (2 Bohs euro ties), which is 3 more than TV3.
It's time for the FAI to take the contract back off TV3 straight away. 1 game all season, a bloody disgrace. Surely one live match a month should be the minimum they show. I can't remember for certain the agreement, (was it 18 games over seasons?) but one so far this season is disgusting. TV3 have done nothing to promote the league, their weekly highlights show started badly and has gone down in quality since, with no effort to improve or change the format. They don't give a crap about the eL, so give RTE the chance to do something.
RTE get the contract back, providing they show one live game a month, a highlights/preview package at a decent time (between 7 and 10) at night once a week for an hour.
TV3 have had their chance, they have made a complete mess of it and they don't care.

[Macy]

For a start TV3's contract was based on them having the delayed broadcast, with sky only showing the live match.... That's all changed since the Government pandered to RTE with the free to air list - one assumes TV3's contract was also re-negotiated...

Secondly, TV3 have non-exclusive rights to the eL. If RTE had the inclination they could be doing a rival highlights package and showing live games now if they were really interested....

The FAI made a start putting the highlights clause in the package, next one up must include a quality and timing aspect to the highlights package as well. At the very least all premier league games should be covered with quality equipment, and then one of first division clubs.... Timing should be 7-10, ideally on a Sunday night IMO.

[gspain]

Guys unfortunately neither TV3 nor RTE will show these games willingly.

A highligths package and live games package was tied into the coverage of the national team. RTE make huge profits from advertising for these games. LoI games cost just as much to cover as Internationals but get a fraction of the viewing figures.

Your average big game (eg Switzerland) will have double the viewing figures of a GAA final (even more this year when we don't have a team in the final :) )

The government stipulation on making these games FTA has now scuppered this.

I assume the GAA have done a deal with RTE whereas the mickey mouse matches also get shown as well as the important ones.

I actually think RTE should be spending our money on showing all sports as well as home produced programmes rather than second rate American imports.

TV3 don't have the capability to do many live events so in reality we need RTE to show them.

[Schumi]

Originally posted by patsh
It's time for the FAI to take the contract back off TV3 straight away ... RTE get the contract back, providing they show one live game a month, a highlights/preview package at a decent time (between 7 and 10) at night once a week for an hour. And RTÉ say "no thanks, we're fine as we are".

[CollegeTillIDie]

RTEngland is so called because when it had the rights it's coverage of domestic soccer was pathetic. BBC NI and UTV cover the domestic game North of the border far better than RTE ever did our League despite the fact that it(i.e. Irish League) is less well supported than our League, and whose teams perform less well in Europe than ours do.

This is the only country in Europe where a foreign league is covered in more detail than the domestic product, by the National Broacaster.

John83 I stand by my comments about being less Irish and it is particularly true in Dublin. What other capital city in Europe would see one of it's teams take on foreign opposition in a competitive game ( St. Pat's V Celtic Tolka Park ) and have 90% of the city's population who are attending the game cheer for the opposition? It's a pathetic reflection on so-called patriotism. Best supporters in the world my arse.Admiring an English or Scottish team is one thing. Supporting them against an Irish team is quite another issue.

Our League has a handful of professional teams, very little money and a maximum admission price of 12 Euros. English Premiership has millions floating around the game , and maxiumum admission prices 5-6 times that amount. We are in a sense not comparing like with like. If our League was as fully professional as even the Scottish League, I would expect over time our teams to perform at least as well as the Scottish club sides do in European club competitions. Because to be frank, from what I see of the SPL , Celtic and Rangers aside the standard is not beyond the reach of Irish teams even as things stand presently.

As regards English football one thing can be said about those in their 40's who got switched on to it in their childhood years. At least in the period from 1976 to 1985 when all but 2 European Champions Cups were won by English teams , at that time English club football was of a standard to be admired. Since 1992 and the advent of Sky TV with Billions pumped into it only 1 English team has won the Champions League in 11 years.
The standard of play in certain areas especially defending is vastly inferior to what it was 20 years ago.

I am interested in foreign football too, but would never support a foreign club team in a European club competition playing against an Eircom League team.

As regards soccer being described as a " garrison game" a few points to ponder. Soccer was merely given rules by the English, who deserve credit for popularising and spreading it around the globe it in it's codeified form . There is a lot of evidence to support claims to soccer having been invented in a primitive form in China, Mexico and even Italy. 207 Nations are members of FIFA and it is truly the World's Game today.

As regards Bogball it is a foreign game being a derivation of Aussie Rules. Rugby is descendant from an ancient Irish game (caid I believe it was called) which William Webb Ellis, who had relations in Tipperary , witnessed on a visit here and brought back to Rugby school with him.

Stickfighting is a genuine Irish sport, didn't Setanta put the sliotar in the backof the dogs throat way back when in that old Celtic legend? Yes Setanta the first Hurling all-star .

So to sum up the pathetic treatment of Eircom League football by RTE and certain newspapers is a mere reflection of the pathetic attitude towards the League in the population at large.

[patsh]

Originally posted by Schumi
And RTÉ say "no thanks, we're fine as we are".
No they don't. Given that it is the national broadcaster, and has a public service remit, it is very easy to insist that RTE cover domestic soccer. FF was very quick to sort out the national team situation, so RTE get national games as their profit, and decent coverage of the eL as the public service side of the contract.
I know it's easy to slag off TV3, but they are absolutly shocking and we should not settle for this "nobody else is covering it, so we put with this sh*t" attitude.
RTE could easily put eL coverage on TG4. F*cking rugger gets live coverage on Friday nights, they show really decent highlights of different sports, and if they had to, would do proper coverage of the eL. Most games are on Friday nights during the summer, when there is no clash with any other sport. Now if TG4 think egg-chasing, a minority "sport", is worth showing, the eL surely makes sense if done properly. TV3 are not going to do it properly and so will never grow an audience, give it to someone who will at least make an attempt.

BTW, RTE's coverage was very poor, but when they wanted to do an hour program @ 7:30 to 8:30 on Sunday nights, it was the likes of Oily Byrne and his ilk who scuppered that. The league itself must make some effort too.

[Schumi]

Originally posted by patsh
No they don't. Given that it is the national broadcaster, and has a public service remit, it is very easy to insist that RTE cover domestic soccer. FF was very quick to sort out the national team situation, so RTE get national games as their profit, and decent coverage of the eL as the public service side of the contract. Like they have before is it?

RTE could easily put eL coverage on TG4. F*cking rugger gets live coverage on Friday nights, they show really decent highlights of different sports, and if they had to, would do proper coverage of the eL. Most games are on Friday nights during the summer, when there is no clash with any other sport. Now if TG4 think egg-chasing, a minority "sport", is worth showing, the eL surely makes sense if done properly. Celtic League rugby gets crowds of 7-8000 for most games, when is the last time an EL game got crowds like that? Maybe one Cork game in a season, if even. I'd love to see Eircom League highlights on TG4 but the resources required to cover a week's worth of EL games is much more than that required for one rugby game a week.

[patsh]

Originally posted by Schumi
Like they have before is it?

Times and conditions have changed, Schumi.
Government CAN insist on certain conditions for RTE.



Celtic League eggchasing gets crowds of 7-8000 for most games, when is the last time an EL game got crowds like that?
You spend far too much time in the wilderness of Belfield....;)

[Shed End John]

Originally posted by patsh
You spend far too much time in the wilderness of Belfield....;)

Not to open a right can of worms here, but what about Musgrave AND Thomond Park. Went to nearly all Munsters home Celtic League games last season and 7-8,000 was about the smallest crowd.

[Schumi]

Originally posted by patsh
You spend far too much time in the glory of Belfield....;) Well how many crowds of 7,000+ have there been in the EL in the past few years (barring cup finals)?

[pineapple stu]

Originally posted by patsh
Times and conditions have changed, Schumi.
Government CAN insist on certain conditions for RTE.

Don't think he denied that they can - the point is that experience shows that they probably won't .

[patsh]

Originally posted by Shed End John
Not to open a right can of worms here, but what about Musgrave AND Thomond Park. Went to nearly all Munsters home Celtic League games last season and 7-8,000 was about the smallest crowd.
So what are you suggesting?
One soccer team for Munster, one for Leinster and one for Connacht?
Bit boring having only two other teams to play wouldn't it?
Maybe Ulster would join in?
Then we could crowds of 7,000?
Compare like with like at least...:rolleyes:
City get 5,000 average for home games, not too far of your figure, without looking for fans from Waterford, Limerick, Kerry, Clare and Tipp.

As for whether RTE would or would not change, all it takes is a small effort to insist they do, not give up before you even try...:(

[Schumi]

Originally posted by patsh
So what are you suggesting?
One soccer team for Munster, one for Leinster and one for Connacht?
Bit boring having only two other teams to play wouldn't it?
Maybe Ulster would join in?
Then we could crowds of 7,000?
Compare like with like at least...:rolleyes: You're missing the point I'm trying to make. I'm not saying EL is $hit, rugby is great and you should be a rugby fan. What I'm saying is that Celtic League rugby is a more attractive TV product than EL football. More importantly, covering one match live is cheaper than doing highlights of 5 games a week.

[patsh]

Originally posted by Schumi
Well how many crowds of 7,000+ have there been in the EL in the past few years (barring cup finals)?
How did my post miss this point?:confused:

[pete]

Coverage of sports events is not dictated by the attendance at those games but the potential viewing public in the homes around the country.

I've been to many rugby games but it is a miniority sport in Ireland. Whereas almost everyone watched the Soccer WC i'd guess there be at least 50% of the population that don't veen know the Rugby WC is on let alone be interested in watching it.

I would be surprised if TG4 got good viewing figues for their Celtic League games last year. I would assume these figures will collapse in Rugby WC year.

btw TV3 coverage is not improving so things need to change.

[DruggyDrog]

I agree that serious change is needed with regard to coverage of the EL, but I think that underestimating the appeal of other sports could be suicidal. TG4 gets more viewers for their Celtic League coverage then RTE ever got for a live EL match. TG4 do not have the money to spend on projects that do not appeal to the consumer, and Celtic League rugby appeals to the consumer at present. Obviously the soccer WC is a bigger event than the rugby WC, but lets not forget that the biggest demand for tickets from Irish fans in the history of Lansdowne Road was for the Ireland v England 6 Nations decider this year. Yes, a minority sport. But so is soccer.

[pineapple stu]

You can't just compare rugby and soccer and say that any soccer should be on over any rugby. Celtic League rugby is (as is my very limited understanding - if anyone wants to correct me, fire ahead) a fairly high standard of rugby featuring the four Irish provinces and including many Irish internationals. The provincial competitions have been a masterstroke as far as rugby in Ireland is concerned as most of the best-known Irish names have been kept in Ireland. eircom League soccer, on the other hand, features journeymen pros and semi-pros (let's be completely honest here). Therefore a much higher proportion of rugby fans are going to watch the Celtic League (and interpros and Heineken Cup, etc.) than the proportion of soccer fans who'll watch the eL. Therefore, it makes more sense for TG4 to show the rugby over the soccer. To slightly change DruggyDrog's comment above - rugby is a minority sport. But so is eircom League soccer.

RTÉ also seem to have serious problems with showing eL football. The highlights show they used to have (were forced into showing) got higher attendance figures than The Premiership. Yet they still screwed clubs around by asking them to move games at short notice (the important point) purely for their convenience. When one club refused to move, RTÉ, despite having two other decent enough matches they could show, went in a huff and showed a Wicklow GAA match. That's where the cynicism over RTÉ is coming from, should anyone have any doubts as to what they're capable of.