Munster launch investigation into streaming difficulties during All ...
Munster Rugby have launched an investigation into why some of viewers experienced disrupted coverage of their match against the All Blacks XV from Thomond Park on Saturday.
The province on Sunday apologised to subscribers who experienced difficulties viewing the game and promised to make contact with those affected in due course.
It had decided to stream the prestigious tour match on its in-house Access Munster platform after all Irish terrestrial broadcasters passed on the offer to acquire television rights, Head of Rugby Operations Ian Costello said in his post-match media conference.
Yet some of those supporters who did sign up to the Munster streaming service were left feeling short-changed by the experience, with many missing the first 15 minutes of the match and the traditional pre-match Haka from the touring New Zealanders.
In a statement issued by Munster Rugby on Sunday afternoon, it said: “Munster Rugby would like to apologise to our supporters who experienced difficulties in accessing Saturday evening’s live stream of Munster v All Blacks XV on Access Munster.
“We encountered an issue with our website provider who were unable to isolate and fix the problem quickly.
“The majority of subscribers were able to watch the match without any problems, however, we deeply regret the difficulties encountered by those impacted.
“The decision to live stream the game on Access Munster was only made after the match was offered to terrestrial television providers in Ireland. Those providers opted against broadcasting the match.
“Matches this season and in previous seasons have been successfully live streamed on Access Munster including pre-season matches against Gloucester and Leinster in addition to the Barbarians double-header in September 2023.
“These matches require a significant cost to broadcast, particularly Saturday evening’s fixture which included a multiple camera set-up, referee mic and TMO capabilities.
“Munster Rugby are continuing to investigate the issue with the provider and, once we confirm the users that were affected, we will be in contact directly with them.”
Munster are understood to have added thousands of subscribers to its Access Munster package in order to watch Saturday’s game and while they insist the majority did get to see uninterrupted coverage one frustrated viewer who contacted the Irish Examiner said: “Scores of fellas on fans’ page can’t log in though they paid up… We got to see about 10 mins in every 20.”
"We are aware of some issues regarding the #AccessMunster live stream," Munster posted to X during the game, "and are working to resolve ASAP."
The club later posted: "We are continuing to work on this issue. Some users are having success logging back in by clearing their cache or using a different browser. Apologies again for the inconvenience."
The problem is believed to lie with Munster’s website provider and not the production company which fed the game to Sky in New Zealand without incident. The problems only affected Ireland and UK viewers via Access Munster.
