The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has today condemned proposals that would require Six Nations and Heineken Cup matches to be shown on free-to-air television.
Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan has called for those games to be added to the list of sporting events to be made available to all viewers free of charge. The IRFU claim the plans would cost them €12 million, 18 per cent of its annual income, with damaging long-term effects for the game in Ireland.
Speaking today, IRFU chief executive Philip Browne said: “The irony is that Minister Ryan’s proposal would destroy both the sport and the very cultural events the Minister believes he would be protecting. If we do not have the money to invest in our sport, and especially to be successful at professional level, everything else unravels as popularity declines.
“Rugby is highly accessible and growing under our stewardship and in partnership with the Six Nations, European Rugby Cup, Magners League and the International Rugby Board," the IRFU chief said at a press conference this morning.
“Together we are confident we will continue to grow the sport as evidenced by the last 10 years but with a balanced approach that ensures Irish rugby maximises its value for the benefit of supporters across the island - North and South. That means a mix of free-to-air and pay-per-view platforms.
“We have been developing our commercial platform for over 10 years now and have no idea how the Minister thinks that greater viewership - which is a questionable proposition in itself - will yield €12 million to us.”
An IRFU statement expressed fears that the drop in revenue would see more players moving abroad and a likely reduction in the number of Irish professional teams, as well as “The rapid decline of Irish rugby into a second-tier country and the end of the game’s mass appeal in this country.”
Concerns were also expressed over international relations - both between Northern Ireland and the Republic, and with the other countries involved in the RBS 6 Nations.
“Irish rugby has been a uniting bond for people across the island for well over 100 years, through all the most difficult times in modern history and the ‘Troubles’ in particular," Mr Browne said. “We are deeply uncomfortable with the potential effect a unilateral political move such as this might have on our sporting federation.”
Six Nations chief executive John Feehan added: “The Six Nations is already guaranteed to be shown on RTÉ for the next three years. “The other Unions cannot understand why Ireland is biting the hand that feeds it when Irish Rugby already receives more than four times what Ireland brings to the central pot. This would have a devastating effect if it went ahead."
ERC chief executive Derek McGrath said: “There is no justification for the Minister’s intervention in the way that ERC sells the broadcasting rights to the Heineken Cup. This unwarranted proposal to restrict our commercial activity would drastically reduce the funds that we disperse to Irish Rugby.”
Today's press conference in Dublin was attended by the chief executives of the Six Nations championship, the Heineken Cup and the four provinces. It is part of the union’s campaign against the proposals to make all of Ireland’s games in the Six Nations and key games involving Irish provinces in the European Cup available live and for free on terrestrial television.
Fine Gael communications spokesman Simon Coveney said the Minister's action threatened to destroy a golden era of Irish rugby.
"This is a populist move by a Minister who doesn’t seem to appreciate or understand how professional international sport functions," he said. "The problem with this approach is that it puts at risk the very funding stream that has made Irish rugby the success that it has become in recent years."
He accused Mr Ryan of making "simplistic and naïve" arguments about not having to go to the pub with his son to watch Leinster in the Heineken Cup.
The union has called on visitors to its website to email in their objections to Mr Ryan's free-to-air proposals.
The IRFU has claimed such a change could lead to losses of €10-12 million and said the Minister’s argument that the shortfall could be made up by increased sponsorship does not stack up. That alternative could only generate some €2-3 million in income, it said.
The loss of income would have a detrimental effect on the game in Ireland, the IRFU has also argued, as provinces would no longer be able to retain star players such as Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell, or afford to pay for such high-profile imports as Munster’s Doug Howlett.
Following a meeting with the IRFU last week, the Minister has extended the deadline for national consultation on his proposal. However, he has said the new events on the list are “part of what we are” and there is a strong argument that they should be available free to viewers.
“We are discussing something very important here – the access and full participation of Irish people, regardless of income or location, to important sporting events. This is about sports for all,” he said.
Under the present classification, the Six Nations is available only as a deferred broadcast. However, as RTÉ has the rights, the matches are shown live and for free. The earliest a pay channel such as Sky could win the rights is 2013.
Sky has held the rights for the Heineken Cup in Ireland since 2007 and live broadcasts are available only to subscribers, including pubs. RTÉ shows deferred highlights.
Sources in RTÉ familiar with buying sports rights said the losses of revenue cited by the IRFU seemed extraordinarily high. According to the IRFU, the figures represent the actual share it receives from the overall television deal brokered by the six rugby unions.
The IRFU campaign has included a banner displayed by former players at half time of the Leinster-Munster Magners League semi-final, which said: “Minister Ryan, Don’t Kill Our Teams”.
Mr Ryan has received irate phone calls and e-mails from rugby supporters, his department said.
One of the issues raised by the Minister when designating the events free-to-air was that the only place children without access to subscriber services at home could view games was in public houses.
According to RTÉ the viewing figure for the 2006 Heineken Cup final involving Munster on RTÉ was 532,000. This fell to 119,000 when the Leinster v Leicester final was available only on Sky. RTÉ has argued the practice of designating major sporting events as free-to-air is overwhelmingly in the public interest and supersedes the rights of sporting organisations to maximise revenues.
Additional reporting PA