C4 acquires Ireland rugby internationals
September 6, 2018
Channel 4 has announced that it will broadcast Ireland’s Guinness Series of autumn internationals for the next four years.
The 2018 Six Nations Grand Slam champions face Argentina, the USA and current World champions New Zealand this November and all three matches will be shown live on Channel 4. This follows on from last December’s announcement of the extension of RTE’s Irish free-to-air rights of Ireland’s November games until 2021.
This is Channel 4’s latest rugby acquisition. Next month sees the station begins a four-year deal to show live coverage of every round of the Heineken Champions Cup.
Joe Blake-Turner, Channel 4’s Commissioning Editor for Sport, said: “Rugby fans can look forward to a match-up between the number one and number two teams in the world, Ireland and New Zealand, on Saturday, November 17th. And looking beyond 2018, Ireland have some fantastic Test matches lined up against the might of the southern Hemisphere, including Australia and South Africa. We’re absolutely delighted to be able to follow the journey of Europe’s finest team as they take on the world’s best.”
Padraig Power, IRFU Commercial & Marketing Director, commented: “The IRFU are delighted to welcome Channel 4 who have a fantastic track-record of sports broadcasting. They join us at an exciting time and we have no doubt that our partnership with them will cover some outstanding rugby moments.”