Ireland football fan buys TV rights to view the game in Australia

Ireland football team ahead of its International Friendly against Wales

A die-hard supporter of the Irish football team, David Feeney found it disheartening that very few of his team’s international matches were broadcasted on Australian TV after he migrated Down Under.

So Feeney, a Sydney-based IT director, made up his mind to purchase the television rights for Ireland’s next World Cup qualifier clash on September 6 against Sweden, said Stuff.co.nz.

And, as a throw in, he has also organised to show England’s game against Ukraine on September 10.

The matches will be broadcasted on Channel 33 in the wee hours of the morning in Australia. He’s also trying to seal a deal to televise the matches in New Zealand and some Pacific Islands.

Disappointed at missing the matches, the last nail in the coffin came in March when Feeney was listening on internet radio to Ireland’s match in Dublin against Austria. Austria scored a last-minute equalizer to earn a 2-2 draw, and Feeney was upset that he wasn’t able to watch such an entertaining match.

”I thought then, that was it, there is no way I shouldn’t be watching this,” Feeney said.

”So I’m going to try to buy the television rights.”

He declined to disclose how much he paid for the rights, only that his first offer was rejected.

The first-time television rights pioneer will most likely be at a central broadcasting center in Sydney that will be receiving  the incoming feed from Europe.

“I want to make sure everything goes OK, the signal goes out to the right places,” Feeney said. ”And for sure, I’ll probably be nervous.”