Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Setanta to televise IHL finals

The IHA announced this morning that Setanta will televise the Irish Hockey League semi-final and final matches, committing to cover the six matches of the final's weekend ‘as live’.


Setanta's involvement has led to the relocation of the games to Grange Road from the National Hockey Stadium in UCD in order to secure two day's worth of television coverage from Setanta Sports.
The prohibitive cost of erecting a temporary television tower conducive to good coverage of hockey at UCD was the major factor in taking the decision.

Chair of the IHL, Inez Cooper, said of Setanta's commitment: "One of the key objectives of the Irish Hockey League is broader exposure to the sport and therefore we are delighted to have secured the televising of the finals weekend with Setanta, including the semi-finals and final for both the women and men.

"It's a positive endorsement to the efforts of the participating clubs who have worked hard throughout the earlier rounds to attract spectators and increase the regular exposure to top class hockey at a local level"

Niall Cogley Chief Executive of Setanta Sports added “Setanta Sports are delighted to be working with the Irish Hockey Association once again this year and we look forward to bringing coverage of the IHL finals at Three Rock Rovers to our viewers.

"Our hockey coverage has been successful in the past and we hope to continue brining such events to Setanta audiences in the future.”

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why did they move the venue to TRR? Would it not be better in UCD because of the seats for supporters?

Anonymous said...

Will the matches be delayed by an hour and a half or cancelled altogether?

Anonymous said...

does anyone know why setanta wont film up in ucd??

Stephen Findlater said...

I am assured the booking has been put in place by the IHA already and been confirmed by Three Rock!

Anonymous said...

Agree - why on earth is TRR better than Belfield?

Anonymous said...

Why did they move from UCD to TRR?
UCD is a much better venue and has shown before that it can handle televised matches.
Terrible choice

Anonymous said...

such an advantage for rovers if they get through - why not UCD? Much better facilities too.

Anonymous said...

Well considering Pembroke prob wont qualify why not have it there. The pitch is darker so the ball will show up better on tv and the pitch is far superior to 3 rocks? Plus its easier to compute to!

Stephen Findlater said...

I've edited the story slightly since I first posted it.

I'm not exactly sure about the ins and and outs of the finances but I've been told by the IHA that it is down to costing.

Hosting the event in Three Rock apparently allows two days worth of hockey coverage to be filmed rather than one at UCD as they don't need to build a temporary video tower.

Anonymous said...

This is going to give a clear advantage to Three Rock (should they qualify) As they will play the final at home???

Anonymous said...

big advantage for UCD and Hermes to play at UCD should they get through... big advan to Pembroke men who should get through, swings and roundabouts.

not sure rovers or pembroke are particularly good for a capacity crowd, though.

Anonymous said...

In an ideal world everyone would like the games to be held in UCD but if it comes down to costs then so be it if its held in rovers. Think is far better that the games get TV exposure than none at all. Look at all the tv time other sports get compared to hockey. Don't forget that RTE used to show the mens ISC final and now its not on any station.

Anonymous said...

who cares where the matches are played. If thats what had to be done to get 2 days tv coverage instead of 1, then thats the way it has to be. Good on the IHA and Setanta. We're usually crying out for media attention... its sure to be better than 2 paragraphs a week in the paper, no offence guys.
As for the ground advantage, well if you want to be called the best team in Ireland it shouldn't matter which pitch the finals are played on. Rovers may have a slight advantage but that didn't stop Glenanne beating them on sat past.

Anonymous said...

What a joke the above comments are. Instead of celebrating the fact that we are getting 6 games live on television we concentrate on where they are being played!

Who cares, we are getting the exposure we badly need, they people watching on the television wont give two hoots were the games are on.

Typical of the majority of hockey followers in the country, lamenting the negative instead of lauding the positive.

Congratulations Setanta and the IHL organising committee.

Anonymous said...

"Well considering Pembroke prob wont qualify why not have it there. The pitch is darker so the ball will show up better on tv and the pitch is far superior to 3 rocks? Plus its easier to compute to!"

yeh,the computers,or commuters i think you meant,woould find it easier to get to PWHC than TRR and i agree that the games would have been far better off there but the decision was made so theres no point in arguing it.Also to say that PWHC won't qualify when the group stages are far from over is a bit short sighted.

Anonymous said...

depends where you're coming from!

Anonymous said...

Moan, moan, moan. I think its great we're gonna get to see some quality hockey on tv.

Anonymous said...

TRR put stands up for the schoolgirls finals each year and the place looks great - no reason they couldn't do the same for the IHL finals. Great weekend for players and supporters to look forward to!

Anonymous said...

three rock should get some stands for the next few months they will be hoasting the ihl, school girls finals and boys and also the new schools boys tournament.

Anonymous said...

"Will the matches be delayed by an hour and a half or cancelled altogether?

March 3, 2009 1:06 PM"

very cheap comment there, should really be deleted. this whole situation was discussed in a different article. it is known that the junior girls in rovers have their pitch time then. the leinster branch were too busy licking their lips at making some funds on entry fees to even remember to make sure that the pitch was booked accordingly.

I watched the match between rovers and glennane on saturday, and although i congratulate glennane on their victory, i feel that the way rovers played there, and what with them having to play ehl in 5/6 weeks time, i can only see them getting improving and being a serious threat once more. it will be a tough task to take their all-ireland title away. fingers crossed that they, along with pembroke, can help irish hockey secure two places in ehl for next season, thoroughly enjoyed watching the action back in oct/nov.

Anonymous said...

More importantly what going to happen to the Three Rock May Festival?! That's usually held on the bank holiday weekend.

We were looking forward to darting back and forward from Grange road to Belfield while playing a bit of mixed hockey and having a few watering cans of snakebite! ;)

They can hardly move it by a weekend can they? That must be a fair bit of money they will lose for their club not running it.

Anonymous said...

Well done Setanta.

Glad its on TV as i would not travel to the second dearest city in Europe, i think it has that status just to watch a match.

Though if football on Sky, i will watch it first.

Anonymous said...

The May Festival!!! ~One would think theyd make more money by holding the all ireland finals

Anonymous said...

Always think it is strange to play on a pitch which is very slippy at the end with the road passing behind it. Which it is and with less than the regulation run off area at the end with the wall.
Not really upto FIH or EHF standards.
Interesting that it gets so many tournaments.

Anonymous said...

I'm assuming they are not going to televise the kate Russell or John Waring tournaments this year?

Anonymous said...

As far as i know the John Waring Tournament will be televised.