The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), the governing body for the Irish sports of hurling and Gaelic football, has agreed new broadcast deals in the UK and Ireland with public service broadcasters the BBC and RTÉ until 2027.
Under the five-year agreement with the BBC, which begins in 2023, the All-Ireland senior football and hurling finals will be broadcast live on the BBC iPlayer streaming service for the first time.
The All-Ireland semi-finals will also be broadcast on iPlayer, with either the football or hurling final shown live on the linear BBC channel.
The semi-finals and finals will additionally be broadcast live on BBC Two Northern Ireland.
These games are in addition to live coverage of up to eight Ulster Senior Football Championship (Ulster SFC) matches.
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BBC Sport and the GAA have also agreed that up to 10 matches in the Allianz National Leagues will be streamed each year on iPlayer.
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By GlobalDataLive audio coverage of the Ulster SFC, both All-Ireland finals, Allianz League games, and club championship matches involving Ulster counties will be available via BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle.
Highlights from these games will be accessible on the BBC Sport NI website.
The deal with the BBC ends the GAA’s nine-year relationship with pay-TV giant Sky.
Having participated in the bidding process for the rights, Sky said it was unable to reach a renewal agreement and pointed to “the new shortened GAA season and its knock-on impact on the number of games Sky Sports wanted to broadcast” as a key factor in its decision.
Neil Brittain, executive editor of BBC Sport NI, said: "The All-Ireland Senior Football and Hurling finals are significant sporting events, and we look forward to bringing them to viewers across the UK via the BBC's digital and linear platforms.
"This new broadcast deal will transform the BBC's coverage of Gaelic Games and delivers free-to-air coverage of the Ulster Senior Football Championship, the Allianz Leagues, and the All-Ireland series via BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds, and the BBC Sport website.
"This agreement adds to the long-term contracts that BBC Sport NI already has in place for football, rugby, and the North West 200."
Meanwhile, RTÉ has expanded its rights to provide comprehensive GAA Championship coverage across its TV, radio, and online platforms for the next five seasons.
The public service broadcaster will continue to show 31 championship games across Ireland on its main linear TV channel and the RTÉ Player streaming platform, as well as the Joe McDonagh cup final, both Tailteann cup semi-finals, and final.
Increased free-to-air Allianz National League games as well as continued coverage of the AIB Club Championships will feature on Saturday nights.
The Sunday Game show will return alongside a new second highlights program. Additionally, RTÉ has secured enhanced digital in-game and post-match digital highlight clip rights.
RTÉ will show at least nine live camogie (the women’s version of hurling) matches per year. On radio, both RTÉ Radio 1 and RTÉ RnaG retain exclusive national live rights.
Following the expansion of the GAAGO service, of which RTÉ is a joint partner, exclusive championship games will be made available on the streaming platform in Ireland and overseas from the 2023 season onwards.
Declan McBennett, RTÉ head of sport, said: “With more live games now available than ever before on RTÉ combined with extensive radio, digital and highlights rights, this agreement with the GAA represents an enormous step forward in coverage for our national games.
“Public service broadcasters are at the very heart of the coverage, and this is ultimately for the benefit of the audience. We view this as a hugely significant deal and a core part of our ongoing effort to bring live sport direct to our audience.”
Image: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
