The Sport Thread

[Steve Williams]

Have never heard of her and think really a familiar face was required here to win over the fans.  Can't be risking another "Jessica Ennis...  Goodnight".

You may not have heard of her, but she is a hugely experienced presenter.

Why do they need to win over the fans anyway? They used to be on ITV, whose coverage is hardly wildly popular on social media, and Sky, which is behind a paywall.

[Rdd]

Premier Sports confirm UEFA Nations League and European Qualifers rights for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland until 2024. Can’t find the press release but here’s the tweet:

https://twitter.com/premiersportstv/stat...3ygGmuAW1A

[thebigdog2022]

Premier Sports confirm UEFA Nations League and European Qualifers rights for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland until 2024. Can’t find the press release but here’s the tweet:

https://twitter.com/premiersportstv/stat...3ygGmuAW1A

No mention of Wales on the tweet or the press release, could be S4C have exclusive rights or share with Premier?

Have never heard of her and think really a familiar face was required here to win over the fans.  Can't be risking another "Jessica Ennis...  Goodnight".

You may not have heard of her, but she is a hugely experienced presenter.

Why do they need to win over the fans anyway? They used to be on ITV, whose coverage is hardly wildly popular on social media, and Sky, which is behind a paywall.

Kate Abdo used to be on Sky Sports and hosted on Sky Sports News & was a boxing presenter for them for a while and now she presents Football for American TV.  Not going to be an Otis Deely.

[Steve Williams]

No mention of Wales on the tweet or the press release, could be S4C have exclusive rights or share with Premier?

Yes, the fact they don't make any reference to Wales at all leads me to wonder if they actually have the rights to them at all. Even if they were sharing with S4C, the fact they have them exclusively in English is surely worth a mention. If they do.

[Rdd]

It’s a bit odd, but Wales games are listed in the schedule.

Some confusion as to whether this is U.K. only, which is what the press release says, or U.K. & ROI, as Sky’s previous rights were (with ROI on a non exclusive basis).

[Ste]

It’s a bit odd, but Wales games are listed in the schedule.

Some confusion as to whether this is U.K. only, which is what the press release says, or U.K. & ROI, as Sky’s previous rights were (with ROI on a non exclusive basis).

Clarified in this Tweet (ROI on a non-exclusive basis):

https://twitter.com/PremierSportsTV/stat...7837817858

[AJB39]

It’s a bit odd, but Wales games are listed in the schedule.

Some confusion as to whether this is U.K. only, which is what the press release says, or U.K. & ROI, as Sky’s previous rights were (with ROI on a non exclusive basis).

Clarified in this Tweet (ROI on a non-exclusive basis):

https://twitter.com/PremierSportsTV/stat...7837817858

I presume it’s non-exclusive because the Republic of Ireland European Qualifiers have to be shown on free to air TV in Ireland as they are listed events.

[RhysJR]

[Steve Williams]

It’s a bit odd, but Wales games are listed in the schedule.

Yes, so they are - bizarre they didn't get a single mention in the press release, though.

[Rdd]

It’s a bit odd, but Wales games are listed in the schedule.

Some confusion as to whether this is U.K. only, which is what the press release says, or U.K. & ROI, as Sky’s previous rights were (with ROI on a non exclusive basis).

Clarified in this Tweet (ROI on a non-exclusive basis):

https://twitter.com/PremierSportsTV/stat...7837817858

I presume it’s non-exclusive because the Republic of Ireland European Qualifiers have to be shown on free to air TV in Ireland as they are listed events.

Yes (though note that Nations League games are not listed).

However, there may also be a separate ROI deal yet to be announced.

[Brekkie]

Guessing the Finalissma has been thrown in with this deal then rather than sold separately. Is a shame for broadcasters it is now pretty much all or nothing when it comes to international football and the days of picking up a selection of fixtures are gone.

I always assume in these situations, rightly or wrongly, too that Sky pretty much opt out of the bidding rather than lose out, and it's clear that losing these fixtures won't have too much impact on subscriber levels as long as they hold on to the Premier League - even if the cost of doing so now clearly impacts their ability to blow the competition out of the water when it comes to other rights. It will leave a hole in their schedules in those international weeks though, but perhaps good news for lower league football and I guess increasingly womens football is more than just schedule filler too.

I wonder if the FTA component will be through a third party, most likely the BBC, or via Freesports.

[thegeek]

Guess when it comes to the on-air line-up the former BT Sport Scottish team that covers the Premier Sports Cup and Scottish Cup for Premier Sports will be mainly used, which is no bad thing as they are broadly popular. Stephen Craigan was Sky's most recent NI co-commentator in addition to being part of the BT/Premier team so the NI angle is already there to an extent.

I note that the news was retweeted by Darrell Currie, which may well be a hint that Sunset+Vine will be looking after these ones.

[Rdd]

The Finalissima is part of the deal yes. Also The42 reporting that the rights do extend to Ireland on a non-exclusive basis.

[Brekkie]

This is where UEFA are a bit dumb as throwing that in with the primary free to air deal would give it much wider exposure and if they want to make it a thing again that should be their focus.

[dvboy]

Doesn't look like Discovery are using any of their free-to-air channels for Roland-Garros coverage in addition to Eurosport.

Sam Smith, Mark Petchey, and Anne Keothavong are joining Eurosport's commentary team having previously worked on ITV's coverage which ended last year.

Barbara Schett will return as their grand slam presenter for with Tim Henman in The Cube in London (they will go to Paris for the finals). Alizé Lim who presented the Australian Open will be a reporter on site with Mats Wilander, John McEnroe and Àlex Corretja also in Paris.

No broadcaster announced yet for the three women's British grass court events that follow in Nottingham, Birmingham and Eastbourne. Prime Video had "TBC" on their list of tournaments until recently that has become a "N". Last year Nottingham and Birmingham ended up on the BBC Sport website after Eurosport gave up the rights, and Amazon added Eastbourne to their ATP coverage, but surely the appeal is greater this year given Emma Raducanu will play at least Birmingham.