RTÉ has reached an agreement with TV3 to sub-licence 22 of the 51 games of the UEFA Euro 2016 Finals.
The agreement, which is the first of its kind between the two Irish broadcasters, will see RTÉ retaining rights for 30 of the games, including all of the Republic of Ireland’s matches and grants exclusive rights to TV3 for 21 games. Both RTÉ and TV3 share rights for the European Championships Final.
RTÉ will retain first choice on matches in the knock-out stages and will broadcast a highlights programme on each night of the tournament.
Ryle Nugent, Group Head of RTÉ Sport said: “In an increasingly competitive and high cost sports rights market, RTÉ has sought a solution to secure and deliver sport to the Irish audience. 2016 is a huge year for Irish sport with the 6 Nations, GAA Championships, Olympics, Paralympics, European Athletic Championships and the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. This year’s European Soccer Championship Finals is the biggest ever, with an additional 20 matches in comparison to 2012. RTÉ is delighted to partner with TV3, another Irish broadcaster, to ensure that the UEFA Euro 2016 Finals are delivered to Irish audiences free-to-air.”
RTÉ2’s coverage of the group stages includes all three Republic of Ireland games, the three Wales games, two of Northern Ireland’s games and one England game. They will also have exclusive live coverage of five Round of 16 games, two quarter-finals and both semi-finals as well as shared live coverage of the final itself. Knockout games schedule to be announced at the end of the group stages.
Euro 2016 kicks off on June 10th with hosts France playing Romania. Northern Ireland’s first game will be on June 12th against Poland while the Republic of Ireland will play Sweden on June 13th.
