eir sports to close,no surprise there.

Eir Sport 1 & 2 to close later on this year

Copied & pasted from Broadband News site

Ireland’s telecom operator Eir has confirmed its premium sports channel will close later this year.

The decision to close Eir Sport follows an in-depth review and mirrors a discussion currently taking place at the UK’s BT over the future of its own sports operations.

“The challenges of the last year have fundamentally changed the commercial model for sports broadcasters, with more sporting events moving to free-to-air and premium broadcasting rights becoming increasingly expensive,” Eir said in a statement.

“We are refocusing our resources on our core business of providing the best mobile and broadband networks and services for our customers.”

In March it emerged Eir had decided not to participate in the next round of sports rights *******s.
Eir currently has the rights to the domestic Guinness Pro14 rugby, that’s set to expire at the end of the season, as well as League of Ireland and National League GAA games.

Last August, a dispute erupted between Virgin Media Sport and Eir Sport over payments under a reciprocal deal allowing subscribers to each of the platforms to view the other’s premium sports channels.

The telco has promised to update its customers in the next few weeks.