Can rugby survive Sky's aerial bombardment

RTE'S VIEW on the subject is straightforward. "If we had access to the Lion's matches in South Africa, we would have shown them. But we didn't. Sky own the rights and that's why we are not in a position to show any of the Tests. There simply was no access to it," says Tim O'Connor, head of RTE sport.

Sky say they are always open to offers. They say that they only had one offer asking for same-day terrestrial highlights of the Lions match and that was accepted. Take a bow Channel 4 Wales.

The BBC have indicated that they also made an offer, but were turned down. Sky, in turn, argue that the BBC's offer was derisory and not realistic. That's the way it has been since Sky stormed their way into international and domestic rugby two years ago.

During one of the most historic Lions tours ever, comparatively few people were able to watch Eric Miller, Keith Wood, Paul Wallace or Jeremy Davidson rise to the challenge and meet the South African forwards head on in their own country and at their own game of tough, uncompromising rugby.

While over five million Sky subscribers in Britain were able to see the two Test matches, as few as 50,000 chose to pay for access to Sky Sports in Ireland. It is, however, difficult to quantify how many people flocked into pubs to watch the two Saturday afternoon Tests.

McGeechan and Cotton balanced their books with the team selection, but Sky's deal was even better with southern hemisphere rugby.

The former all-powerful president of the South African Rugby Football Union, Louis Luyt, sold the rights of the Lions tour to Sky after the 1995 World Cup.

Luyt's deal effectively tied up the three most powerful rugby nations in the world - New Zealand, South Africa and Australia - into a 10-year deal with the satellite station.

But what has been a very good deal for Sky has greatly disappointed many rugby fans who do not subscribe to the station. Indeed last season, the Irish Rugby Football Union went to great lengths, much of it through very effective and tough negotiating by Syd Millar and Tom Kiernan, to preserve the status of the Five Nations Championship on terrestrial television.

Sky had dangled big money in front of England and they were happy to bite. They were also offering Ireland and Scotland Pounds 28.7 million each and Wales Pounds 40 million to sell out their rights to the championship. But the IRFU were adamant that for the health of rugby, the game should be available to the much greater audience guaranteed by terrestrial television.

Ireland, Scotland and Wales refused to deal with Sky's owner Rupert Murdoch and stepped outside of the agreement that England had enthusiastically embraced. England, however, were forced to put a portion of their Sky money into the communal Five Nations pot and even at this stage, it is uncertain whether England's home games at Twi kenham in next year's Five Nations Championship will be seen live except on Sky.

Luyt's deal with the satellite broadcaster was roundly condemned by the smaller nations of the south Pacific, such as Western Samoa, Fiji and Tonga. They were simply kept out of the cash fest, leaving the "Big Three" to grow even fatter on the Sky money.

Sky will now cover the next two Lions tours, international matches involving Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the Super 12 series and a number of other significant rugby events.

But while the station may have a marginal audience, they will say that they have changed the way in which rugby has been covered.

So far on this Lions tour, Sky Sports have screened all of the mid-week provincial matches, as well as the two Saturday Tests. It is the first time an entire Lions schedule has been shown live on television. They see themselves as ground breaking in that respect. For the next five years, Sky will broadcast live rugby every month, starting with their exclusive live rights to the European Cup which starts in August. RTE's part in the whole arrangement is that of a participant, but one with a limited choice of what it can participate in.

"Terrestrial stations cannot do anything if the various rugby unions' sell the broadcasting rights to Sky and if the public then decide to buy it. We asked for access to a number of events, including the Lions tour, and were told we can have A, B and C events, but not D, E and F events," says O'Connor.

"We were told it (Lions matches) was not available - the same as the Premiership soccer, the US Open and Ryder Cup golf and the Steve Collins fight, which we originally had. The Lions is no different to those."

While RTE are still trying to forge deals with Sky on a number of fronts, including the European rugby cup and next season's Five Nations Championship, the satellite station continue to be precious about their events. Sky, having made enormous investments in the rugby market, have decided that it is in their own interest to say to potential viewers we are the only holders of this event, deal with us.

They are the new guys on the block and even with six million subscribers in Britain, Sky's foothold in the market is small and they don't want to see dilution of their products on stations such as RTE or the BBC.

The downside of it is that those who cannot afford to, or do not wish to subscribe to Sky will not see many of the major sports events.

Last month, the European Commission said that they too would endeavour to protect sports and cultural events and a motion was passed on June 10th. Although the member states are not bound by this agreement, Ireland will submit a list in the near future. But outside of the GAA, what constitutes a precious Irish sports event will certainly be open to debate. Sky, you can be sure, will have a strong view.