Sky Sports’ championship TV schedule is very good news for homesick Dublin fans

Who needs to go to Croker when you can watch it at home.

2016 is the final season of Sky Sports’ agreed three year deal with the GAA, and they are going out with a bang it seems. The British company will broadcast 20 games over the course of the summer, with 14 of the matches exclusive to their channels. And their schedule is good news for Dublin fans who may feel a bit ill travelling outside the Pale for a championship game next month. Dublin face Laois in Nowlan Park in June 4th in the Leinster football championship,, but Sky Sports has picked up the rights for the game, which means thousands of Dublin fans will be able to watch the match from their local pub, or homes, if they have a Sky package It will be ten years to the day since Dublin's last excursion outside of Croke Park, and bizarrely, Bernard Brogan's first ever championship game outside Drumcondra. That game is the opening match of their schedule, with Kilkenny's Leinster and All-Ireland title defence getting their hurling coverage underway a week later on June 11th  in Croke Park against Wexford or Dublin, who clash this weekend. The deal is broadly in line with previous years, with Sky taking ownership of a number of Saturday evening games during the summer, as well as two All-Ireland quarter-finals. The full schedule is below: Saturday, 4th June Laois v Dublin Leinster SFC quarter-final 7pm Saturday, 11th June Dublin/Wexford v Kilkenny Leinster SHC semi-final 7pm Saturday, 18th June London/Mayo v Galway Connacht SFC semi-final 7pm Saturday 25th June Monaghan/Down v Fermanagh/Donegal Ulster SFC semi-final 7pm Saturday 2nd July Either All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round 2A or All-Ireland SHC Qualifier Round 1 Saturday, 9th July Either All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round 2B or All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round 3A Saturday, 16th July All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round 3B (x2) Saturday, 23rd July All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round 4A (x2) Saturday, 30th July All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round 4B (x2) Saturday 6th August All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals (x2) Sunday, 7th August All-Ireland SHC semi-final Sunday, 14th August All-Ireland SHC semi-final Sunday, 21st August All-Ireland SFC semi-final Sunday 28th August All-Ireland SFC semi-final Sunday, 4th September All-Ireland SHC final Sunday 18th September All-Ireland SFC final