TG4’s coverage of the TG4 Ladies Football
Championships culminated yesterday with the live broadcast of the Junior,
Intermediate and Senior Finals from Croke Park.
A new record was set yesterday with 56,114 people in attendance; the
largest-ever attendance to date at Croke Park for Ladies Football, up from
50,141 in 2018. It was also only narrowly beaten by the FIFA World Cup final as
the largest audience at any women’s sports event this year which had an
attendance of 57,900.
According to official TAM Ireland figures, the TV
viewership also made a huge impact. In all, 666,000 tuned into TG4's coverage
of finals day yesterday, with an average audience of 252,500 people watching
the live broadcast of the Senior Final between Dublin and Galway a rise of over
70,000 viewers from the 2018 Ladies Football Final. This is the second highest viewing figure for
a Ladies’ final on TG4 since it first started to broadcast the games back in
2001.
The match took a 30% share of viewing among
individuals, making TG4 comfortably the most popular channel in Ireland
yesterday afternoon. Viewing peaked at
5.19pm with 358,400 viewers as Dublin closed in on the three in a row to retain
the Brendan Martin Cup.
TG4 Director General Alan Esslemont says ‘TG4
is extremely proud of our partnership with the LGFA and Lidl. Women’s sport is a central pillar of TG4
audience strategy for many years and it is wonderful to see the profile now
being given to these world-class sportswomen.
We are proud partners in the 20 x 20 Women in Sport campaign and are
extremely proud that TG4’s women’s sport alliance with Ladies Football will
indeed be 20 in 20. We are already looking forward to marking the lead up our
twentieth anniversary with a flourish, both on-screen and with events in the
community in Ireland and abroad.’
Ladies Gaelic Football Association President, Marie
Hickey, said: "We are very fortunate that TG4 continue to be our Championship
sponsors and broadcast our games, not just nationally, but to a worldwide
audience. I extend a heartfelt thanks to Alan Esslemont and all of the team at
TG4, as we reflect on another record-breaking Sunday. It's now full steam ahead
for the 2020 season, a year that will mark the 20th of our long-standing
partnership. The #ProperFan hashtag was trending heavily throughout TG4
All-Ireland Final Sunday and the viewership figures are reflective of our
sport's growing popularity."
