Sky announce 4 year deal to broadcast RaboPro12

[tate]

http://www1.skysports.com/rugby-union/n ... rect-Pro12

No more G. Hook!!!

[Dave Cahill]

It doesn't say if its exclusive. And one would hope not, because if it were it would mean a significant drop in the amount of games covered

[tate]

Rabo statement to come later today

[rummyometer]

Great news if the below is true. More than 50% revenue increase, complementary to current terrestrial deal, and 125 of 135 games shown live.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... -deal.html

It is expected that under a new four-year deal with the satellite broadcaster, which will begin for the 2014-15 season, 30 games a season will be shown on Saturdays.
It will mark an increase of more than 50 per cent on existing television revenues, which are shared between the Welsh, Scottish and Irish Unions.
The Pro12 currently has agreements with regional broadcasters BBC ALBA, BBC Northern Ireland, RTE, TG4, BBC Wales and S4C, but it is thought that the new Sky deal will be an addition to those contracts and not replace them.
That will not only ensure that the tournament is broadcast nationwide for the first time but also result in 125 of the 135 games being televised live.
Sky Sports will also gain the rights to broadcast the semi-finals and finals live, in conjunction with the territorial broadcaster where those games take place.
The move comes after Sky Sports lost the rights to broadcast the Aviva Premiership from next season to BT Vision and underlines the growing strength of the Pro12 both commercially and in terms of audience figures.
The competition is expecting a total of 1.2 million spectators this season, an increase of 100,000 from last season, while viewing figures are also up by around 25 per cent.

[Dave Cahill]

Yep, if Sky are an additional partner, then there is nothing but creamy goodness in this deal

[the economist]

Sky broadcasting Rabo

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... -deal.html

[Lamb of BOD]

Veely intelesting.

Rugby fans across the water will now get to see how the game should be played.

[Lar]

Sounds like a great deal to me. Higher profile for the competition as well can be nothing but good for it and it's sponsors, and thus it's participants. And the fans get to see more games live when they can't get to them. Win win win.

Or have I missed the downside?

[domhnallj]

Swap the AP for the Rabbo. Yes please! I was considering my subscription since I mostly have Sky sports for their rugby coverage but this changes my decision to ditch it.

[dingodublin]

AT least we will still get to see the majority of the games for free on RTE/TG4/BBC NI etc. But yes a good move if it increases the audience of the pro12 in En Ger Land

[mtleinster]

Important note

The Pro12 currently has agreements with regional broadcasters BBC ALBA, BBC Northern Ireland, RTE, TG4, BBC Wales and S4C, but it is thought that the new Sky deal will be an addition to those contracts and not replace them.

[hugonaut]

This is fantastic news for the league and really positive for Irish rugby.

Firstly, Sky do a fantastic job of covering and promoting rugby, as we've seen from their coverage of the pro-era Lions tours, pretty much the entire history of the Heineken Cup and the premiership in its various guises. They won't be putting together a broadcasting team from scratch, instead likely transferring guys across from their Premiership and ERC stables. That means that there won't be much [if any] fumbling around and f*cking things up when they start their term.

Throwing their weight behind the Pro12 might be primarily a knee-jerk reaction to BT outbidding them for the Premiership [I doubt they would have entered the market otherwise, but maybe I'm wrong] but it seems pretty obvious to me that they'll see the room there is for growth in the league – in conjunction with very useful terrestrial broadcasters at first, and especially in Italy – and will go all-in to promote the league as at least the equal of the French and English leagues, not merely the tacked together space filler between Heineken Cup games that it is too often portrayed as.

The quality of their magazine shows [The Rugby Club obviously, but Ringside is absolutely first rate for boxing, and I'm sure their football ones are pretty good as well] is very promising in terms of what they might do for the Pro12. It will certainly put a bit of pressure on RTE to up its game, because once there's a direct competitor on the market, the guys who were once sitting pretty in splendid isolation now feel a bit of heat from negative comparisons.

Sky back their product. There are few enough people [and I'm not one of them] who haven't taken the p*ss out of their over-hyping of the Premiership, but f*ck it, I'll take the positive approach over the smirking, "it's only the Rabo" stylings of the RTE crowd any day of the week. I really enjoy the league and think that it's undervalued – undervalued by RTE, undervalued by the casual rugby follower and [under Declan Kidney] undervalued by important parts of the Irish rugby establishment.

[Maradona10]

Sky back their product. There are few enough people [and I'm not one of them] who haven't taken the p*ss out of their over-hyping of the Premiership, but f*ck it, I'll take the positive approach over the smirking, "it's only the Rabo" stylings of the RTE crowd any day of the week. I really enjoy the league and think that it's undervalued – undervalued by RTE, undervalued by the casual rugby follower and [under Declan Kidney] undervalued by important parts of the Irish rugby establishment.

One of my favourite quotes of all time came a few years back on Sky's rugby coverage. It was halftime in Gloucester vs Wasps? and Will Greenwood said: "James Forrester is the best no. 8 in Europe at the moment". You've gotta laugh.

[Hippo]

Sky back their product. There are few enough people [and I'm not one of them] who haven't taken the p*ss out of their over-hyping of the Premiership, but f*ck it, I'll take the positive approach over the smirking, "it's only the Rabo" stylings of the RTE crowd any day of the week. I really enjoy the league and think that it's undervalued – undervalued by RTE, undervalued by the casual rugby follower and [under Declan Kidney] undervalued by important parts of the Irish rugby establishment.

Exactly. Their coverage has been uniformly excellent, and I'll vouch for the quality of their peripheral football coverage as well. It'll certainly - or should certainly - force RTE into a (hopefully) agonising reappraisal of their very ordinary efforts.

[ronk]

They might not have exclusive rights to the competition, but it looks like they have exclusive rights to the matches they have the rights to.

[Peg Leg]

This is fantastic news for the league and really positive for Irish rugby.

Firstly, Sky do a fantastic job of covering and promoting rugby, as we've seen from their coverage of the pro-era Lions tours, pretty much the entire history of the Heineken Cup and the premiership in its various guises. They won't be putting together a broadcasting team from scratch, instead likely transferring guys across from their Premiership and ERC stables. That means that there won't be much [if any] fumbling around and f*cking things up when they start their term.

Throwing their weight behind the Pro12 might be primarily a knee-jerk reaction to BT outbidding them for the Premiership [I doubt they would have entered the market otherwise, but maybe I'm wrong] but it seems pretty obvious to me that they'll see the room there is for growth in the league – in conjunction with very useful terrestrial broadcasters at first, and especially in Italy – and will go all-in to promote the league as at least the equal of the French and English leagues, not merely the tacked together space filler between Heineken Cup games that it is too often portrayed as.

The quality of their magazine shows [The Rugby Club obviously, but Ringside is absolutely first rate for boxing, and I'm sure their football ones are pretty good as well] is very promising in terms of what they might do for the Pro12. It will certainly put a bit of pressure on RTE to up its game, because once there's a direct competitor on the market, the guys who were once sitting pretty in splendid isolation now feel a bit of heat from negative comparisons.

Sky back their product. There are few enough people [and I'm not one of them] who haven't taken the p*ss out of their over-hyping of the Premiership, but f*ck it, I'll take the positive approach over the smirking, "it's only the Rabo" stylings of the RTE crowd any day of the week. I really enjoy the league and think that it's undervalued – undervalued by RTE, undervalued by the casual rugby follower and [under Declan Kidney] undervalued by important parts of the Irish rugby establishment.

This- The movement of Sky into this arena has will enhance the product. The chosen ignorance of so many towards this league (an ignorance almost championed by RTE) has always been a bug bear of mine. The additional funds could aid in keeping all of the participating nations players on home soil!

[IanD]

To me the biggest effect could be each of the PRO 12 Teams increasing revenue. Can happen 2 ways - because of the extra exposure in England of Club sponsors and increase of sales in jerseys etc. Kit sales might not be a huge amount but ever little helps.

[hugonaut]

To me the biggest effect could be each of the PRO 12 Teams increasing revenue. Can happen 2 ways - because of the extra exposure in England of Club sponsors and increase of sales in jerseys etc. Kit sales might not be a huge amount but ever little helps.

Exposure in a bigger market [i.e. everybody who subscribes to Sky Sports in the UK, which is a healthy-enough percentage of the rugby-watching population over there, you'd imagine] will probably mean a more lucrative deal from the name sponsor. Whether that means RaboDirect paying more money when it comes up for renewal, or whether somebody comes in and outbids them is another matter. I recall at one stage that both HSBC and Fiat were mentioned as possible sponsors of the Pro12.

[johng]

24 British & Irish Lions play in the Rabo. 11 play in the Premiership, and 2 play in France.

[johng]

To me the biggest effect could be each of the PRO 12 Teams increasing revenue. Can happen 2 ways - because of the extra exposure in England of Club sponsors and increase of sales in jerseys etc. Kit sales might not be a huge amount but ever little helps.

Exposure in a bigger market [i.e. everybody who subscribes to Sky Sports in the UK, which is a healthy-enough percentage of the rugby-watching population over there, you'd imagine] will probably mean a more lucrative deal from the name sponsor. Whether that means RaboDirect paying more money when it comes up for renewal, or whether somebody comes in and outbids them is another matter. I recall at one stage that both HSBC and Fiat were mentioned as possible sponsors of the Pro12.

Be great to see Leinster shirts appearing round the UK too