Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) CEO Gerard Lawlor feels there’s “no right or wrong answer” as they search for the perfect Irish League broadcasting solution, but rather insists it’s about “evolving” in a changing landscape.

Last month, Linfield fans boycotted their Irish Cup trip to Limavady United after it was chosen for live BBC coverage on a Friday evening.

The Amalgamation of Linfield Supporters Clubs stated their desire to ensure “the next generation are sat in the stands and not watching on TV” and the Blues responded by saying they’ll “seek changes to the broadcasting contract” ahead of next season.

According to NIFL’s website, BBC have broadcast 23 Premiership matches so far this season with another three to come before the split.

placeholder image — Saturday's Premiership meeting between Linfield and Glentoran was on the BBC iPlayer. (Photo by INPHO/Brian Little)

NIFL also launched ‘NIFL TV’ this season, showing four Boxing Day fixtures alongside both BetMcLean Cup semi-finals and four league games across the past week.

In June, NIFL announced a new three-season extension to their Sky Sports deal – they haven’t shown any Irish League matches yet this season but have often broadcast the BetMcLean Cup final in recent years.

NIFL and BBC Sport NI agreed a new five-year broadcast deal in 2021 with 30 live streamed matches and eight live TV games per season part of the contract.

Lawlor continues to communicate with clubs around a number of topics – including broadcasting – as NIFL seeks the best path forward for their members.

"We talk to the clubs every day,” said Lawlor. “Look, different clubs have different pressure points and we have to deliver.

"There's a very fine balance...when this current deal came in, we were crying out for television coverage, it was the right deal to do at that time.

"Five years down the line, the world of football has evolved, the world of television and television exposure has evolved. We have now introduced NIFL TV...it's about evolving.

"There's no right or wrong answer in that one. We will talk to the clubs and try to get a feel for what they want, how we can help them as clubs develop and put their own message out.

"We've made some big announcements in recent months around sponsorship, that comes with exposure.

"It's a real challenge to get people in stadiums and bums on seats as well as eyeballs on the game, that's something that we're competing with probably for the first time in NIFL history.

"We have to go through a journey, we have to find our way through that. I walked in here (for last week’s ‘More Than The Game’ event) with a club who says, ‘why can we not have every game televised?’.

"Then you'll have another club that says, ‘no, we don't want any television’, so like everything, we're trying to find that balance.

"But as long as we're all communicating, as long as we're all having the discussions and going forward together, that's the best way to do it and find compromises.”