Iain Morrison: BBC Alba to put Magners League in the picture

AFTER YEARS of being given the cold shoulder by local television companies, Magners League rugby will finally be available to Scottish fans on BBC Alba next season – provided current negotiations can be successfully concluded.

Discussions to host the Magners League on public service broadcasters across the three Celtic countries are at an advanced stage and should be completed in the coming weeks.

The BBC Alba move is part of a wide-ranging deal involving S4C and BBC Wales in Wales, RTE and TG4 in the Republic of Ireland and BBC Northern Ireland. To date Alba has dipped its toe into the club rugby, hosting several matches last season, but this would be its first coverage of the professional game.

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As things stand, STV airs the 1872 Cup games between Edinburgh and Glasgow either side of the New Year and hosts a Sunday highlights show. According to Alan Esslemont, the head of content at BBC Alba, the Gaelic language channel hopes to gain access to all Magners League action on Scottish soil including the derby matches even if, for budgetary reasons, they won't be able to broadcast every one. At the same time, Esslemont stressed that Alba was not attempting to force STV out of rugby and he hopes that the commercial channel would continue to air its highlights package.

"We want to host as many Magners League matches as our budget will allow us to do," said Esslemont, before putting the figure somewhere around seven to eight matches per season. But thanks to an agreement between the public service broadcasters, that figure should be boosted by away matches which will come cheaply. For a modest fee, BBC Alba would be allowed to take the feed from matches involving the two Scottish pro-teams that take place in Wales or Ireland. That means the Gaelic channel should be able to air at least one Magners match every week.

It is great news for the sport even if the Gaelic commentary will be unintelligible to many of the viewers. Quizzed as to whether Alba planned to offer commentary in English as well as Gaelic, Esslemont suggested budgetary constraints would put paid to that.

"We are low on budget but we have plenty of airtime," said Esslemont, "so this is a great way to fill our schedules within a budget while providing excellent rugby coverage at the same time. It's a win-win situation. We hope to increase our coverage of home games in the future but it all comes down to budget. Nothing has been agreed but we are hopeful it will happen."