TG4 has today announced a five-year sponsorship extension of the All-Ireland Ladies Football Championships.
The new deal is set to last until the conclusion of the 2027 season and all games in the 2022 championships will be available to viewers worldwide.
TG4 has been title sponsors of the competition since 2001, and the deal ensures that the LGFA they will work closely together in 2024 to celebrate the association’s 50th anniversary.
This is the second major sponsorship renewal for the LGFA in 2022, after National League sponsors Lidl committed to a further four years.
TG4 has committed to screening 13 fixtures live during this year’s All-Ireland Championships, beginning on Saturday, June 11, with a double-header from the group stages of the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship.
The summer schedule will run until TG4 All-Ireland Finals day on Sunday, July 31, when the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Championship Finals will be screened exclusively live on TG4.
The Junior Final will get underway at 11.45am, the Intermediate decider will begin at 1.45pm, and the Senior Final will throw in at 4pm.
Peil na mBan Beo will be available to audiences globally on the TG4 Player and on the TG4 Mobile and Smart TV App.
Former Galway star Máire Ní Bhraonáin will lead TG4’s Peil na mBan Beo coverage once again for the forthcoming Championship season and the commentary team will be headed up by Brian Tyers.
They will be joined by expert panellists including former Cork stars Rena Buckley and Rhóna Ní Bhuachalla, ex-Waterford ace Michelle Ryan, former Dublin player Sinéad Finnegan, current TG4 Senior Players’ Player of the Year and 2021 All-Ireland Senior medallist Vikki Wall from Meath, and current Donegal player Emer Gallagher.
TG4’s coverage will be produced by Waterford-based production company, Nemeton TV.
The LGFA and TG4 have also confirmed that all other games that are not being televised in the TG4 All-Ireland Championships will be available to view via the LGFA’s live-streaming service.
Speaking on behalf of TG4, Director General Alan Esslemont said that in 2000, both Ladies Football and the Irish language were matters deemed to be of very marginal concern in Ireland.
“By standing together as partners for over twenty years, LGFA and TG4 have managed to attain remarkable national success and status, bringing change to those societal views,” he said.
“However, much work remains to be done and I believe that this five-year deal between TG4 and LGFA gives a very clear signal of our joint intent to redouble our efforts to achieve a better parity.
“For TG4 to fully achieve that parity, we need Government to address the TG4 Post-Covid funding strategy which aims to see TG4 moving from the margins of the public service media ecosystem to a place which better reflects the importance of the Irish language in today’s society in Ireland.”
