Talksport Secures British & Irish Lions Rights

16 Nov 2016 | tshego

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Sports radio station, talkSPORT, has secured the exclusive UK radio rights to the British & Irish Lions 2017 Tour to New Zealand next summer.

Starting on 3rd June 2017, talkSPORT and its new sister station talkSPORT 2 will broadcast full commentary of all ten matches along with daily news and programming.

talkSPORT was also the exclusive radio broadcaster for the British & Irish Lions’ series victory over Australia in 2013, as well as the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

The latest rights add to the station’s existing rugby union coverage, with talkSPORT’s autumn schedule featuring a new Sunday rugby show on talkSPORT 2 and commentary of the Aviva Premiership throughout the season.

Scott Taunton, chief executive officer for talkSPORT’s owner Wireless Group, said: “The British & Irish Lions Tour to New Zealand will be the biggest sporting event of 2017 and there will be massive interest in it. talkSPORT has a stellar heritage of producing excellent rugby coverage with two Rugby World Cups and the British & Irish Lions Tour in 2013, and our investment shows our further commitment to a diverse range of sports across talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2. We look forward to bringing listeners the best coverage and being the voice of the tournament.”

British & Irish Lions chief executive John Feehan said: “There is a huge appetite for radio coverage of the Lions and we are delighted that talkSPORT has been appointed as exclusive rights holder. They did an excellent job in bringing the 2013 tour alive for millions of fans and the addition of talkSPORT 2 will take their coverage of the 2017 Tour to New Zealand to another level.”