Raphael Ibanez: 'Does that mean more free booze?'Premier Rugby announced today that live domestic television deals for the Guinness Premiership had been agreed with Setanta Sports and Sky Sports.
The new three year deals will commence in the 2010/11 season and will see the number of live televised Guinness Premiership games more than double from the current 33 to 69 a season.
Setanta Sports will broadcast 43 live Guinness Premiership games a season including a Guinness Premiership Semi Final and the Guinness Premiership Final.
Sky Sports will broadcast 26 live Guinness Premiership games including a Guinness Premiership Semi Final.
In addition to the live rights Premier Rugby has also concluded broadcast agreements for the Guinness Premiership's highlights, broadband and mobile offering. Details of these agreements will be released at a later date.
In a difficult economic climate the new agreements will deliver in excess of £54 million in revenue over 3 years, a 45% increase to the Guinness Premiership clubs. This increase along with double the match coverage will enable the clubs to develop their commercial businesses on the back of an increasingly strong broadcast platform.
Mark McCafferty, CEO of Premier Rugby, said "The substantial increase in income and coverage for the Guinness Premiership is fantastic news for our clubs, their supporters and sponsors and is a reflection of the growing attraction of club rugby.
"We are delighted to continue our relationship with Sky Sports and look forward to working with Setanta Sports on delivering more matches from the Guinness Premiership than ever before.
"For rugby fans the new deals mean that every weekend there will be a choice of three live televised Guinness Premiership games on Setanta Sports and Sky Sports plus a free to air highlights show featuring action from all six games."
The current broadcast arrangements have another season and a half to run and will conclude at the end of the 2009/10 season in May 2010.