Biggest sport in the country by participation rate & general interest, we’ve just historically not funnelled that interest into the domestic infrastructure that generates better players for the national team. Academies, LOI clubs, stadiums etc..
We could be as good as Croatia or Denmark someday if everyone supported local & the government supported Irish football. This would also result in Irish clubs having a better league, going further in Europe, which in turn makes the product better to watch.
BadgerBitter5613 on
most watched sports event ever for an Irish occasion?
When television and streaming audiences are combined, Ireland v Czechia is clearly the most‑watched sporting event ever in Ireland. The World Cup play‑off averaged 1.37 million viewers on RTÉ2 and attracted a further 1.059 million streams on RTÉ Player, delivering over 2.4 million TV and streaming viewing instances in total, with a peak TV audience of 1.6 million pushing overall engagement close to 2.6 million across platforms. By comparison, the 2025 All‑Ireland football final generated approximately 1.3 million combined TV and streaming views (933,000 on TV and 378,000 streams), while the hurling final reached about 1.4 million combined. Even Ireland’s largest rugby audience — the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter‑final against New Zealand — delivered roughly 1.7 million combined TV and streaming views (1.378 million on TV and 293,000 streams). The unprecedented scale of both linear TV and digital audiences means Ireland v Czechia achieved by far the largest overall national sports audience ever recorded in Irish broadcasting, surpassing GAA finals and Rugby World Cup knock‑out matches alike.
Tomaskerry on
That puts to bed the argument that GAA is bigger.
Soccer is our number 1 sport.
I’m a huge GAA fan but I think soccer pervades society more.
Rugby is obviously quite niche.
I hope the LOI continues it’s current growth as I see that as the key to everything.
4 commenti
Is that more than the all Ireland final?
Biggest sport in the country by participation rate & general interest, we’ve just historically not funnelled that interest into the domestic infrastructure that generates better players for the national team. Academies, LOI clubs, stadiums etc..
We could be as good as Croatia or Denmark someday if everyone supported local & the government supported Irish football. This would also result in Irish clubs having a better league, going further in Europe, which in turn makes the product better to watch.
most watched sports event ever for an Irish occasion?
When television and streaming audiences are combined, Ireland v Czechia is clearly the most‑watched sporting event ever in Ireland. The World Cup play‑off averaged 1.37 million viewers on RTÉ2 and attracted a further 1.059 million streams on RTÉ Player, delivering over 2.4 million TV and streaming viewing instances in total, with a peak TV audience of 1.6 million pushing overall engagement close to 2.6 million across platforms. By comparison, the 2025 All‑Ireland football final generated approximately 1.3 million combined TV and streaming views (933,000 on TV and 378,000 streams), while the hurling final reached about 1.4 million combined. Even Ireland’s largest rugby audience — the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter‑final against New Zealand — delivered roughly 1.7 million combined TV and streaming views (1.378 million on TV and 293,000 streams). The unprecedented scale of both linear TV and digital audiences means Ireland v Czechia achieved by far the largest overall national sports audience ever recorded in Irish broadcasting, surpassing GAA finals and Rugby World Cup knock‑out matches alike.
That puts to bed the argument that GAA is bigger.
Soccer is our number 1 sport.
I’m a huge GAA fan but I think soccer pervades society more.
Rugby is obviously quite niche.
I hope the LOI continues it’s current growth as I see that as the key to everything.