What will RTÉ make of this?
Shamrock Rovers are one of the biggest clubs in the SSE Airtricity League and because of the club’s history, and some of their more high profile players, they tend to be in the spotlight more than most.
Therefore you’d imagine that in the small amount of TV coverage that the league currently gets from RTÉ, the Hoops would be a key audience grabber for the national broadcaster and that exposure would also benefit the club.
However it’s emerged today that the Tallaght based side are looking to stop TV coverage of their games for the rest of the season as they claim that it’s costing them almost €10,000 every time they feature on RTÉ.
According to a report in today’s Irish Independent, the club have written to RTÉ to express their unhappiness at the club having to switch kick-offs to 7.05 to suit TV.
The club believe that televised games had a negative impact on the number of people coming through the turnstiles in Tallaght as supporters fight their way through rush hour traffic.
Currently clubs receive no compensation if their games are broadcast on television while they also cannot object if a game is selected for TV exposure.
It’s understood that a number of other League of Ireland sides are supportive of Shamrock Rovers’ stance which could become a major stumbling block in the deal announced last year between RTÉ and the FAI to show 78 live SSE Airtricity Premier Division and FAI Cup games until November 2018.
Shamrock Rovers’ most recent TV game was the clash with Cork City which marked Damien Duff’s re-introduction to Irish football last month.
