GOLF: Any attempts to make the Ryder Cup at The K Club in September accessible live to terrestrial television, in this case either RTÉ or TV3, are likely to be firmly resisted by the PGA European Tour who have a multi-million euro contract with Sky Sports.
That agreement extends to the end of 2008 to provide live coverage of a minimum of 34 tournaments each year, and the biennial Ryder Cup (which has been broadcast live on the satellite channel since 1995) is its showpiece.
An indication of how seriously the European Tour are taking efforts to change existing arrangements is that George O'Grady, the executive director of the PGA European Tour, will personally make the submission to the Government. In December, Noel Dempsey, the Minister for Communications, said he would be inviting submissions over a review of the list of sporting events for free-to-air broadcast. The closing date for such submissions is January 27th.
In a statement issued by the European Tour, Mitchell Platts, the director of communications, said: "The Irish Government was made fully aware of the contractual situation with regard to television when agreement was reached in 1997 for Ireland to be the host nation to the Ryder Cup in 2005 which, of course, is now 2006 because of the postponement of the 2001 match.
"The European Tour has been invited to make a submission to the Irish Government's review of legislation which George O'Grady, the executive director, will do in due course, but we can reaffirm that contracts are in place with both Sky and RTÉ for the 2006 Ryder Cup."
The contract with Sky is for live coverage, while RTÉ are contracted to show nightly highlights.
Sky Sport's extended contract with the European Tour, including the rights for exclusive live coverage of the Ryder Cup at The K Club on September 22nd-24th, was signed in April 2003. Critically, in terms of using the match as a promotional tool in the significant golf tourism market that is the US, NBC, a terrestrial channel, have the exclusive rights to live coverage there until 2014.
The contract for The K Club follows a trend that extends back over the past decade. Sky Sports have had exclusive live rights to the Ryder Cup through their contracts with the European Tour since the 1995 match at Oak Hill in Rochester and the satellite channel has had the match on its own (in Europe) at Valderrama in 1997, Brookline in 1999, The Belfry in 2002 and Oakland Hills in Detroit in 2004.
When the match was last held in Europe, at the Belfry in 2002, the BBC (as it was at Valderrma and the other matches in America) was restricted to nightly highlight packages.
On the last occasion the Irish Government took on Sky over sporting rights, it won. In 2003, the Football Association of Ireland was forced to abandon a lucrative €17.5 million deal which granted the TV channel exclusive rights to the Republic of Ireland's home international games, after the Government intervened. On that occasion, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told Sky and the FAI that European Union laws allowed his Government to ensure that the games were screened for free.
Since Minister Dempsey announced his intention to review the list, including the Ryder Cup, opposition politicians have urged him to ensure the tournament between Europe and the US - which will be held for the first time in Ireland - is added to the existing list.
Yesterday, Jimmy Deenihan, Fine Gael's spokesman on sport, said it would be "a real shame" if the event were not made available live on a terrestrial channel, adding: "It would be a simple matter for the relevant cabinet minister to add the 2006 Ryder Cup to this list . . . it would be in the national interest."
And Labour's Jack Wall urged the minister to resist any efforts from satellite broadcasters to tie up the rights to the Ryder Cup broadcast. "Should they (Sky) succeed, millions of Irish households will be denied the opportunity to watch the largest international sporting event ever to be staged in this country," said Wall.
Yet, the reality is Sky have enjoyed such rights since 1995 and even the mighty BBC, however reluctantly, accepted their fate when they were outbid and denied live access in the intervening years. And, given the amount of money (undisclosed) involved in Sky's contract with the European Tour is it any wonder the station and the organisers of the match are set to vigorously oppose attempts to open it up? If it happens here, a precedent will be set for Wales (2010) and Scotland (2014). No wonder Sky and the Tour are set to vigorously fight their corners.
