European rugby TV coverage is set to change in a move that will please rugby fans across the country.
There is good news for rugby fans today as the European Cup - currently entitled the 'European Champions Cup' - could be back on terrestrial television soon.
It is a move that will please the 'ordinary man', the 'humble Irish sporting fan' who has had to endure seeing rugby and then, horror of horrors, GAA being taken over by the vast wealth of Sky and/or BT.
Vincent Gaillard - the Director General of European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) - is quoted on the subject of TV rights in a piece in the 'Irish Times' by Gerry Thornley that seems to indicate a return to ten years ago (when we were able to watch Munster's glorious first Heineken Cup victory through the simple investment of our license fee):
It could be a free-to-air broadcaster, and a pay-per-view broadcaster, as we have in France for instance. But not two pay-per-view broadcasters. It is not working very well for us at the moment.
Any return to matches on terrestrial TV would come into effect from 2019-2020 when the UK and Ireland broadcasting rights are up for re-negotiation.
Thornley points out, however, that there are deep flaws in the current arrangement in France, with viewers only entitled to one free Champions Cup game per weekend.
Pro12 games involving Irish sides are regularly aired on TG4 and yet there are concerns over the league's popularity, so showing games on television clearly does not guarantee an increase in interest.
This still comes as good news, however, for the average couched and casual sports fan who has spent several years building up blood pressure trying to watch dodgy streams out of blatant refusal to spend money at the pub, as well as a blind hope that things would return to the glorious ways of the past.
Well, it appears that they just might.
