With less than three weeks to go until Katie Taylor’s sold-out Croke Park homecoming, negotiations regarding the TV broadcast rights are still ongoing. Subscription broadcaster Dazn holds the exclusive rights for fight night – but could RTÉ or Virgin Media strike a late deal to ensure that this momentous night of Irish sport is broadcast free-to-air on terrestrial TV?
Sinéad O’Carroll brings Niall Kelly up to speed on the latest state of play in the broadcast negotiations, which look set to come to a head this week, before the pod discusses the existing free-to-air legislation which designates certain sporting events as “of major importance to society”.
What events rightly belong on the list, and where should the line be drawn between government intervention and encroaching on a vital revenue stream for sport’s governing bodies and stakeholders?
And how does free-to-air legislation survive in a broadcasting landscape that’s becoming increasingly fractured and commercialised? Is it more important than ever or on borrowed time?
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