Broadcasting of sports events events from the 1980s, mainly horse races and so-called minority sports. In the early 1990s this arrangement was shaken up by the arrival of pay-TV in the form of BSkyB. Their dedicated sports channels have since become the only place for some major sports to be seen. Starting in 2006 the Irish company Setanta Sports emerged as a challenger to Sky Sports' dominance of the British pay-TV sports market; however, Setanta's UK channel went into bankruptcy administration and off the air in 2009. Between 2009 and 2013 ESPN made an attempt to challenge Sky Sports before its British operations were
Sports broadcasting contracts in the Republic of Ireland networks such as BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and S4C on satellite and cable. Sports broadcasting contracts in the Republic of Ireland This article refers to sports broadcasting rights in the Republic of Ireland. For a list of sports broadcasting rights in other countries, see List of sports television broadcast contracts. Viewers in the Republic of Ireland can watch sports on Irish channels RTÉ One, RTÉ Two, Virgin Media One, Virgin Media Two, Virgin Media Three, Virgin Media Sport, TG4, eir Sport 1 and eir Sport 2. They can also view Pay-TV networks such as Sky Sports, BT