The new United Rugby Championship will be available to watch on terrestrial TV channels in Ireland.
Long-term contracts are being finalised between the URC and RTE and TG4 to share broadcast rights to 52 of the 60 Irish fixtures every season.
The URC was unveiled on Tuesday, with a format that will see the Irish provinces pooled together among the 16 clubs that will compete, and with four South African franchises also included.
RTÉ has secured the rights for live TV, radio and online coverage of 26 games featuring the Irish provinces in the league, plus additional knockout matches. TG4’s Rugbaí Beo will continue to be the station’s flagship rugby programme and will broadcast 26 URC games live.
The URC Grand Final will also be delivered free to air with RTÉ and TG4 broadcasting it live on alternate years.
TG4 will also have live rights to a further 16 non-Irish fixtures in addition to the 26 Irish games.
Additionally, the United Rugby Championship and RTÉ will team up to offer a domestic and international OTT (Over The Top) service called URC TV, details of which will be announced later in the summer.
TG4 continue to build on their 20-year association with the league with RTÉ returning to the competition for the first time since 2014.
Martin Anayi, CEO of United Rugby Championship, said: “Free-to-Air coverage is hugely attractive to all sports in terms of reaching the widest possible audience and in TG4 and RTÉ we have two partners who are really excited about launching the United Rugby Championship.
“Both TG4 and RTE have proven track records of delivering marquee international sporting events and they are both innovators in their own spaces. TG4 have added a new dimension to our games with their referee briefings from the dressing rooms and their mic’d up coaching interviews during warm-ups which bring fans behind the scenes.
“RTÉ have experienced big sporting occasions for decades and our decision to partner with them on our OTT player – URC TV – is evidence of a broadcaster that can adapt to market demands and provide a very creative offering for rights holders.
"We also cement the legacy of TG4’s association with us since the first days of the Celtic League and welcome back old friends at RTÉ to provide a very powerful offering to the widest audience in Ireland ahead of the first URC games in September.”
Meanwhile, the Heineken Champions Cup format for next season will retain the two-pool format employed last term.
The tournament was radically reshaped last season to adapt to Covid restrictions, with 24 teams divided into two pools, and the same number of teams - eight each from the new URC, English Premiership and French Top 14.
Pool games will be played in December and January again, but this time around there will be a home and away format for the last 16 fixtures next April.
