In what is being billed as a major boost for sports fans in Ireland, Virgin Media and eir Sport have agreed a deal that will see Virgin Media sports channels broadcast on the eir Sports platform while eir Sports channels will be broadcast on Virgin Media’s platform.
As eir Sport is the official Rugby World Cup partner – showing all 48 matches – it will come as a significant benefit to Virgin Media’s customers with the tournament only weeks away. eir Sport is also the main Irish rights holder for the Guinness PRO14 while it also broadcasts live Allianz Leagues Hurling and Football as well as FA Cup matches from England, SSE Airtricity League and Irish U21 Home qualifiers.
For its part, eir customers will now have access to Virgin Media’s growing sports output which includes the Six Nations, the Heineken Champions Cup, over 300 matches in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, the Nations League and the UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers in addition to top horse racing events like the Cheltenham Festival and the Aintree Grand National.
The deal comes less than a year after Sky announced itself as the exclusive distributor of BT Sports and Premier Sports in the Irish market. Prior to this, eir Sports was the exclusive distributor of BT Sports.
