Decent TV Coverage for the EL at last

Slash/ED

from today's Indo:

FAI set for TV deal

Tuesday February 22nd 2005

UP to 30 Eircom League games and FAI Cup ties are set to be screened live in a new television deal agreed by the FAI, writes Gerry McDermott.

The association is expected to announce soon that it has done an historic multi-package deal with RTE, Setanta Sports, TV3 and TG4.

Coverage is expected to commence on Friday, March 18, with the Dublin derby between Bohs and Shamrock Rovers which is likely to be screened on Setanta.

Meanwhile, several clubs are thought to be investigating the option of appealing against the decision of the Eircom League Management Committee to approve a 33-round campaign for the Premier Division.

Cork City manager Pat Dolan is the latest figure to express his annoyance at the fixtures which were published on Saturday at the League's AGM.

© http://www.unison.ie/

Felt it needed it's own thread. It's about time, I'm absolutley delighted that really does sound quality. Throw in a decent highlights programme and it'll be amazing.

Mossy Monk

very good news for fans of EL

Big Ears

im ecstatic , this gives me a good chance of following the league in more detail than ever(im hopeing of going to a few games too) , my only problem is I don't have Setant , but maybe il get that free month thing before it runs out so I can see the Setanta Cup and some early season games .

How many channels are doing round up programmes ? .

eirebhoy

Heard this yesterday. Won't be getting my hopes up until something official is announced.

LizardKing

Might backfire and see even less people turn up at the turnstiles .. hopefully it won't though

Slash/ED

LizardKing wrote:

Might backfire and see even less people turn up at the turnstiles .. hopefully it won't though

In the past games on TV have, oddly enough, increased attendences. I think it's all down to hype, people see it's on TV so think it's worth going to. hopefully the increased exposure will just add to the interest in the league and attendences will go up as a result.

Töpher

IF it happens it will be fantastic for the league! Should really open peoples eyes to it, especially if theres more than one game every 6 months!

SteM

I think 30 live games a season might be overkill for the eL at this point to be honest. What the league really needs is a decent recap show that has all the Premier Division goals and incidents of the week on at a decent time, not the shambles that EL Weekly has become where it only seems to show some games.

monkey lover

so there going to show
1) Dublin Derbys
2)Shelbourne home matches and occasionaly
3)Bohs home matches.

If they do show some "lesser" teams play, I'll be delighted. Mainly because I'm a pats fan

Pigman II

I think it's great for the game. Most clubs seem to have the idea that this kind of coverage will eat into their gates but I think in the long term it will help to get more people out to the games when they see the standard / facilites etc are actually quite good these days ... certainly compared to what what was 10-15 years ago anyway.

gimmick

UP to 30 Eircom League games and FAI Cup ties are set to be screened live

TV3 were to show up to 5 games a season for that last few years. I dont think they showed 5 all put together?

Cork City manager Pat Dolan is the latest figure to express his annoyance at the fixtures

Will that fcuking eejit just get on with his job, and stop moaning about everything. The fool is beginning to do more harm than good for City, with his continuos moaning, and general spin-doctoring. He has a nice little excuse ready made now for another season of failure at CCFC. Once people have seen through that he will start to blame his chairman again for not releasing the funds etc for new players.

eirebhoy

from fai.ie

The Football Association of Ireland will announce details of a major TV rights agreement for domestic soccer with RTÉ, TG4, and Setanta at a media conference in the Mezzanine Suite, Jury's Hotel, Ballsbridge at 12.00 noon, Tomorrow, Friday 25th February.

Big Ears

no TV 3 ?............

KdjaCL

Good news indeed but Pats cant be expected to play in 30 cracking games a season. Have to hope the others take up the slack


[Smug mode]All the best tv games have involved us winning[/smug mode]


kdjac

eirebhoy

from fai.ie:

The Football Association of Ireland has agreed a unique multi-broadcaster TV deal which will see more than 30 domestic soccer games televised each year and a €400,000 prize fund for the eircom League.

In a groundbreaking 5-year agreement, the games will be broadcast by three broadcasters — RTÉ, TG4 and Setanta Sports.

“This new TV package, together with a 400% increase in prizefunding represents a step change for domestic soccer”, said FAI Chief Executive Officer John Delaney. “Exposure of the game on TV is vital for the future of the game and the securing of this TV package represents a huge leap forward in terms of bringing the game into people’s homes”, he added.

“The FAI is delighted also to provide a 400% increase in prize money for the eircom League”, Delaney said. The total cash available to the League is now a record €400,000, up from €98,000 in 2004.

The key elements of the deal are:

· Agreement is for 5 years through to end-2009 season
· Minimum 29 matches to be broadcast during each season
· Minimum 24 matches live, with 5 “as live”
· RTÉ to screen 8 games live — 5 eircom League and 3 Carlsberg FAI Cup
· Setanta to screen 10 eircom League games, 5 live and 5 “as live”
· TG4 to screen 11 games live — 7 eircom League and 4 Carlsberg FAI Cup
· Record prize fund for eircom League increased by 400%
· Total of €400,000 now on offer to eircom League clubs

Mr Delaney said that the deals announced today were “the most exciting and innovative package of measures to affect the domestic game for many years”. He paid tribute to all three broadcasters for supporting the domestic game so strongly and in a uniquely cooperative way.

“With the TV rights deal for international matches recently concluded, this agreement covering both the eircom League and the Carlsberg FAI Cup starts a new era for the game of football in Ireland and hopefully gives everyone a positive platform for real development of the game here at home”, Delaney added.

The TV agreement will include a minimum of 29 matches to be broadcast during the 2005 domestic season. At least 24 will be live with a minimum of 5 shown on as “as live” basis. The FAI expects that broadcasters will also take up options to transmit above this committed level and the final figure is likely to exceed 30 matches during the year.

The recently appointed Chairman of the eircom League, Paddy McCaul said the scale of the announcement was remarkable. “We are delighted that the FAI has used its strong commercial position to secure a really significant deal for the eircom League and the domestic game as a whole”, he said. “The exposure for the game, along with the cash injection gives the eircom League a huge boost”, he added.

Commenting on the agreement TG4 Ceannasaí, Pol Ó Gallchoir said “We are very pleased to be centrally involved in this innovative partnership with the FAI and colleague broadcasters. This exciting soccer deal extends significantly our channel’s coverage of top-class sport in Ireland,” he said.

Niall Cogley, Chief Executive, Setanta Sports, said; “We are delighted to add the eircom league to our already strong portfolio of football rights from both at home, through the Setanta Cup, and abroad. The partnership with the FAI and the eircom League is good news for Irish soccer and good news for the viewers,” he concluded.

Glen Killane, RTÉ Head of Sport, said: "RTÉ are fully committed to the eircom League and to domestic soccer. We are delighted to be extending our partnership with the FAI in that respect, and we look forward to continuing to bring coverage to the widest possible audience".

This is exciting. To everyone's suprise, Delaney is doing a great job since he took over. Fair play to TG4 but I'm a bit disappointed they got the most matches, unless there'll be English commentary.

thejollyrodger

Great news for the E.L ! I didnt think TG4 would be showing any of the matches but its a great deal. The prize money too is excellent. Hopefully RTE will be showing all the Shels matches

MrJoeSoap

Great news altogether. The Shels - UCD opener has been moved forward to Wendesday two weeks (March 16th).

Its been a long wait but finally EL football is back!

Aquos76

what does "as live" mean

Töpher

The full game is shown, but not live.

Slash/ED

Yeah, Setanta did an 'as live' match last year, don't know if you saw it, but it was Pats v Rovers. Basically it was recovered in full on the friday, with commentary and all, but they only showed it the next day, but they showed it in full.

Anyway, take the amount of games EB has listed there to be shown live, throw in another 10 Setanta cup games and throw in European games and that is very, very nice alright. Best news I've heard in ages, and I have to admit Delaney is doing a good job in the short time he's been in charge, fair play to him.

thejollyrodger

TV cash to benefit all League clubs
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=94&si=1349170&issue_id=12149

ALL 22 clubs are likely to benefit from the €300,000 injection to the eircom League prize fund announced by FAI interim chief executive John Delaney.

The money has been generated by a new TV deal that will see up to 30 matches being shown live on RTE, TG4 and Setanta Sports every season for the next five years.

When added to last year's prize fund of €98,200, plus the €37,500 paid out in TV fees, it means the League has an enormous €435,900 to distribute this season.

Delegates from the clubs are scheduled to meet on Monday March 7, when they will be presented with the options available to them but it appears that predictions of a massive increase in prize-money will be off the mark.

The money is likely to be broken into three sections - prize money, TV fees and a participation fee - ensuring that each of the 22 clubs benefit in some way from the massive windfall, possibly to the tune of €5,000 per club.

Last season 10 of the 22 clubs received absolutely nothing in prize money or TV fees. The top six teams in the premier division shared €45,000 in prize money while the first division fund of €22,000 was split among the first four clubs. The last four in the League Cup shared £21,000 with the top two in each division's fair play table splitting €10,200.

Meanwhile, the €37,500 paid out to the teams involved in last season's five televised league games was shared between five premier division clubs.

If each club receives the expected €5,000 per club it will leave €325,900 to be distributed in prize money and TV fees.

The current fees for televised games are €5,000 for home teams and €2,500 for away teams and if this payment scale is maintained then it will mean payments of €217,500 for the minimum 29 matches guaranteed under the new deal.

That would leave just €108,400 to be distributed in prize money, an increase of 10.4 per cent on 2004. This figure will only be increased if the clubs decide not to introduce a participation fee or opt to reduce the TV fees.

No matter what happens on March 7, this deal represents a massive boost to the eircom League, not just because of the cash injection but the huge benefit to its profile.

RTE are committed to showing eight games live, three of which will be in the FAI Carlsberg Cup, while Setanta will show 10 games, five live and five 'as live' and TG4 will televise 11 games, four of them FAI Carlsberg Cup ties. TV3 will continue to cover the eircom League through their weekly highlights programme.

A committee, chaired by the FAI's TV consultant Laurence St John, will decide which games will be shown live. Fourteen days' notice will be given for each match. It has already been decided that the Bohemians v Shamrock Rovers game on March 18 will be shown on Setanta, while TG4 will screen the March 25 meeting of St Pat's and Bohemians.

"This ground-breaking deal will see unprecedented exposure of the game on TV," said Delaney. "I have always held the view that TV rights hold the key to investing in our domestic game.

"This deal shows the ability of the FAI to leverage extra prize money and TV revenues for the eircom League. In the context of a merger I believe that the family of football could increase the prize fund even more significantly if that is agreed for the season after next."

He added that he expects to announce commercial deals in the coming weeks which could lead to future prize fund increases. Companies buying FAI rights would also be sold eircom League rights and a percentage of the fee would be apportioned to the eircom League.

Delaney also stated that the FAI expect the cabinet to make a decision on the Sports Campus at Abbotstown within the next two weeks and he reckoned that the FAI could move out of Merrion Square within six months.

Gerry McDermott

Looks like they are spreading the money around all the clubs. Good to see:)

KdjaCL

This should get the players "performing" on TV as they be on it nearly every week. Too many times teams freeze when on TV and game is usually cack.

kdjac

Slash/ED

The deal really does look fantastic though, it'll be interesting to see what TG4s coverage is like. Also, this should mean more coverage of our teams in Europe which is another added bonus not mentioned there. I'm really really looking forward to next season now.

radiospan

Great news for the league, especially when added to Setanta's coverage of the Setanta Cup.

Big Ears

This just seems to get better and better , although I still have to hope TV 3 don't keep showing Eircom League weekly at that rediculous time and that they also cover the league a bit better too .

eirebhoy

March 18
Bohemians v Shamrock Rovers, Dalymount Park (RTE 2)

March 25
St Patrick’s Athletic v Bohemians, Richmond Park (TG4)

SteM

eirebhoy wrote:

March 18
Bohemians v Shamrock Rovers, Dalymount Park (RTE 2)

March 25
St Patrick’s Athletic v Bohemians, Richmond Park (TG4)

Dublin derbys, what a surprise. Wonder if many other teams outside Dublin bar Cork will get shown?

Slash/ED

In fairness they're the best two matches on display on either night imo.

_blank_

And seriously, who is going to watch a UCD -v- Finn Harps game?

This TV deal is good for the league, if it shows the quality teams that should give some quality games.

In my opinion temas like Finn Harps and UCD are not ready for football at the highest level, and the 12 team structure should have been held back at least another two years.

SteM

Slash/ED wrote:

In fairness they're the best two matches on display on either night imo.

I know that, I'm just wondering how many live games won't feature Cork or be Dublin derbys.

This TV deal is good for the league, if it shows the quality teams that should give some quality games.

I'm really wondering if 30 live matches a season is a good thing. The overall quality isn't that great in the eL. I can see Bohs, Shels and Cork getting shown a lot. I hope there won't be too many Shels home matches shown because they have enough problems getting crowds in as it is.

How does showing the quality teams help the league in general? I can't see it attracting anymore people to go and see Bray Wanderers or UCD.

eirebhoy

SteM wrote:

I know that, I'm just wondering how many live games won't feature Cork or be Dublin derbys.



I'm really wondering if 30 live matches a season is a good thing. The overall quality isn't that great in the eL. I can see Bohs, Shels and Cork getting shown a lot. I hope there won't be too many Shels home matches shown because they have enough problems getting crowds in as it is.

How does showing the quality teams help the league in general? I can't see it attracting anymore people to go and see Bray Wanderers or UCD.

The only way televised matches affect attendances is in a positive way IMO. There always seems to be a decent croud at the televised games.

_blank_

eirebhoy wrote:

The only way televised matches affect attendances is in a positive way IMO. There always seems to be a decent croud at the televised games.

I think that may be because they only have shown matches that get good crowds anyway.

Cork -v- Shels last year, which was on in the middle of Shels European run had a good crowd down at Turner's X, but it would have been there anyway.

Pigman II

eirebhoy wrote:

Bohemians v Shamrock Rovers, Dalymount Park (RTE 2)
St Patrick’s Athletic v Bohemians, Richmond Park (TG4)

Just giving the public what they want. Bohs by the bucketful!

SteM wrote:

I hope there won't be too many Shels home matches shown because they have enough problems getting crowds in as it is.

So true! There was even talk of turning Tolka into a cemetary after Shels leave but the plan was scraped after residents complained about the increase in noise levels.

_blank_

Pigman II wrote:

So true! There was even talk of turning Tolka into a cemetary after Shels leave but the plan was scraped after residents complained about the increase in noise levels.

Crowe, Ryan and Hawkins moved for the quiet life did they?

:rolleyes:

Pigman II

Who?

SteM

eirebhoy wrote:

There always seems to be a decent croud at the televised games.

There haven't been 30 live matches a season been shown before now though. I hope it does help the league but I think the increase of prize money will be the big thing that comes out of this deal, not so much the TV coverage. One thing I really hope is TV3 get their sh1t together and produce a decent weekly recap show.

Slash/ED

TV coverage can't hurt the EL attendences really, it wouldn't make much sense. The fans of the EL are fans of the EL because they love watching live football and much prefer it to watching football on the TV, I can't see any fans suddenly staying at home now rather than going to matches as they're on TV.

The TV coverage will help establish the players in the publics mind, so they'll know whos who and it will help people get into it. One of the main reasons people say they dont get into the EL is they don't know the players, hopefully that will no longer be an issue.

KdjaCL

Slash/ED wrote:

TV coverage can't hurt the EL attendences really, it wouldn't make much sense. The fans of the EL are fans of the EL because they love watching live football and much prefer it to watching football on the TV, I can't see any fans suddenly staying at home now rather than going to matches as they're on TV.

The TV coverage will help establish the players in the publics mind, so they'll know whos who and it will help people get into it. One of the main reasons people say they dont get into the EL is they don't know the players, hopefully that will no longer be an issue.

I concur, the quality is there even when we **** the games are decent, just more game son tv hopefully will get the players used to performing.

Can only be a good thing for the league and RTE saftey net in using Tg4 is clever in that they dont ahve to show every game.

Sadly (seriously not taking the piss or being an ass) the only team i can see suffer a drop in attendences is Shels.

kdjac

Slash/ED

KdjaC wrote:

Sadly (seriously not taking the piss or being an ass) the only team i can see suffer a drop in attendences is Shels.

kdjac

You may be right but I think this season will be a good one for us attendences wise because of the quality in the squad. Before we did play a bit of poor to watch football that wasn't the best to look at espically against smaller teams where we'd grind out results efficently. This year with the squad we have we should play some of the best football we've seen in quite a while. Between that, all the media hype from last year and the TV I'm hopeing this season will be our best in some time for attendences. We'll see, I suppose.

KdjaCL

Hope so, be crap when we beat an off form or underperforming Shels team.

Gives you excuses then

kdjac

Slash/ED

Well it hasn't happened in a long long time so who knows

Pigman II

Slash/ED wrote:

TV coverage can't hurt the EL attendences really, it wouldn't make much sense. The fans of the EL are fans of the EL because they love watching live football and much prefer it to watching football on the TV, I can't see any fans suddenly staying at home now rather than going to matches as they're on TV.
The TV coverage will help establish the players in the publics mind, so they'll know whos who and it will help people get into it. One of the main reasons people say they dont get into the EL is they don't know the players, hopefully that will no longer be an issue.

Hit the nail on the head.

Speaking of which, one thing I've noticed at all these TV games that detracts from the presentation is that they never have a camera running 'portrait shots' of players during the matches. Hense the audience never get a mental image of players in their head the same way they would about premiership/cl/ireland guys.

It's not enough just having 2-3 cameras covering the on-pitch action. We need to start instilling players into the consciousness thru more extensive camera work if the game here is going to catch the public imagination. It would only take one extra camera and would add so much to the presentation.

Who knows, perhaps this aspect will be already included this season.