Your Ultimate Guide to the Biggest Sports Events on TV This December.
17/12/2024 11:32:49
December is always a great month for sports fans to get their teeth into with a whole host of sporting events to look forward to. 2024 is going to be no different for Irish sports fans, so we have decided to help you chart your way through a great month of sport by listing some of the best sporting occasions to look forward to.
All Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship Semi-Finals
We are down to the last four in both the All-Ireland Club hurling and Gaelic Football Championships. The football semi-finals don’t take place until early January, but December 15th will see the final four in the hurling competition do battle.
Slaughtneil of Derry take on Cork champions Sarsfields in St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge, while in the other Semi-Final, Loughrea of Galway will play Dublin side Na Fianna at Semple Stadium. The winners of the two Semi-Finals will advance to the All-Ireland Senior Club Championship Final on Saturday January 18th in Croke Park. Both games will be broadcast live on TG4 on Sunday December 15th.
The 2025 World Darts Championships.
The World Darts Championships have become something of a Christmas and New Year tradition for many sports fans, and undoubtedly this year is going to be no different. The Championships throw in on December 15th with the 1st Round clashes before the heavy favourites such as Luke Littler and Luke Humphries enter the tournament in Round 2. Humphries is the defending champion entering this year’s event, but for many this year may be the start of Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler’s domination of the ‘oche’ at the World Championships. The competition begins on December 15th and runs until January 3rd, 2025, with all the action live on Sky Sports.
Inter-Provincial Rugby Fixtures
Another staple of the Irish Sporting Christmas is the Inter-Provincial rugby matches that take place each December. This year Ulster vs Munster will kick things off when they meet on December 20th at Ravenhill. The following day Leinster welcome Connacht to the Aviva Stadium as part of Round 8 of the 2024/25 United Rugby Championship.
December 27th will see the latest edition of the biggest domestic game in Irish rugby, as Munster welcome old rivals Leinster to Thomond Park. Few club matches capture the imagination like a Munster vs Leinster clash and this year’s battle will hopefully be no different. The following night, the 28th Connacht will entertain Ulster at the Sportsground in Galway to round off this year’s traditional December Inter-Provincial matches. Munster vs Leinster will kick off on December 27th at 19:35pm, with the match live on Premier Sports.
Leopardstown Christmas Festival
The annual feast of racing that is the Leopardstown Christmas Festival will kick off as usual on St Stephen’s Day and will run until December 29th with some of the best Irish horses, jockeys and trainers all vying for some of the biggest prizes in Irish National Hunt racing.
The big race of the opening day on the 26th will be the Racing Post Handicap Chase with the 2mile Paddy Power Chase the highlight of Day 2. The Savills Chase over 3 miles should be ultra-competitive this year, with the likes of Galopin Des Champs, Fact to File, Corbetts Cross and Spillane’s Tower all among the 21 horses entered at this stage.
The final day will see the 2024 edition of the December Hurdle. Willie Mullins’ State Man has won the previous two years at the Dublin track and is expected to line up again, along with the likes of Brighterdaysahead and Lossiemouth. RTE will broadcast all four days of the Christmas Festival from Leopardstown, starting on December 26th.
"Few club matches capture the imagination like a Munster vs Leinster clash and this year’s battle will hopefully be no different."
Premier League Fixtures
As is the case every season, December is going to be packed with football action from the Premier League. St Stephen’s Day fixtures are always a popular addition to any football fan’s Christmas celebrations, and this year the likes of Liverpool vs Leicester, Newcastle vs Aston Villa and Chelsea vs Fulham are the post-Christmas offerings from the Premier League.
Another series of games on December 29th and 30th will round off the Premier League action for 2024, so there is lots of football for fans to get stuck into over the Festive period. All the televised Premier League action in December will be available on Sky Sports, TNT Sports and Premier Sports in Ireland.
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Liam Lacey
Liam is a sportswriter from County Laois in Ireland who specializes in delivering content on GAA and Football matters (though he does see himself as somewhat of a tennis aficionado also!). Liam has written about All Ireland Gaelic Football and Hurling Championships, Premier League, Champions League and International Football offering expert opinion and match previews and predictions. Occasionally even getting some right!