2017 All Ireland Senior Football Championship

Provincial Championships format

Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster each organise a provincial championship. All provincial matches are knock-out. All teams eliminated from their provincial championships with the exception of New York (for logistical reasons) enter the All-Ireland qualifiers.

Qualifiers format

Twenty eight of the twenty nine teams beaten in the provincial championships enter the All-Ireland qualifiers, which are knockout. The sixteen teams eliminated before their provincial semi-finals play eight matches in round 1, with the winners of these games playing the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists in round 2. The eight winning teams from round 2 play-off against each other in round 3, with the four winning teams facing the four beaten provincial finalists in round 4 to complete the double-elimination format. Further details of the format are included with each qualifier round listed below.

All-Ireland format

The four provincial champions play the four winners of round 4 of the qualifiers in the quarter-finals. Two semi-finals and a final follow. All matches are knock-out. Any game that ends in a draw is replayed. If a replay ends in a draw, extra time is played.

Changes from 2016

On 1 January 2016 the 'mark' was introduced. It is defined as -

When a player catches the ball cleanly from a kick-out without it touching the ground, on or past the 45m line nearest the kick out point, he shall be awarded a ‘mark’ by the referee. The player awarded a ‘mark’ shall have the options of (a) taking a free kick or (b) playing on immediately.

Live TV Coverage

RTÉ, the national broadcaster in Ireland, will provide the majority of the live television coverage of the championship in the first year of a five-year deal running from 2017 until 2021. Sky Sports will also broadcast a number of matches and will have exclusive rights to some games including two All-Ireland football quarter-finals.

Munster Senior Football Championship

The Munster championship differs from the other provincial championships with regard to which teams are designated A or B in the qualifiers -

A and B Teams

An A and B system for the qualifier draws was introduced in 2014 and has been retained. The teams are designated as A or B depending on which half of their provincial championships they play in. Although some teams receive byes in the early provincial rounds, their position in the round in which they enter the competition is usually determined by the provincial draw, resulting in most teams being designated as A or B randomly. For example, each of the four provinces has two semi-finals - one between two teams designated A and one between two teams designated B. The beaten semi-finalists in each province will always be one A team and one B team.

In all qualifier rounds A teams play A teams and B teams play B teams. Usually the A teams play their provincial games before the B teams which allows the A qualifier games to be scheduled a week before the B qualifier games.

Round 1

In the first round of the qualifiers sixteen of the seventeen teams beaten in the preliminary rounds or quarter-finals of the provincial championships compete. New York does not enter the qualifiers. Four A teams play four A teams and four B teams play four B teams. The round 1 draw is unrestricted − if two teams have played each other in a provincial match they can be drawn to meet again with the winner of the provincial match receiving home advantage. The eight round 1 winners play the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists in round 2 of the qualifiers.

The following teams take part in round 1 -

Round 2

In the second round of the qualifiers the eight winning teams from Round 1A and Round 1B play the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists. The round 2 draw is unrestricted − if two teams have played each other in a provincial match they can be drawn to meet again with the winner of the provincial match receiving home advantage. The eight winners of these matches play each other in Round 3.

The following teams take part in round 2 -

Round 3

In the third round of the qualifiers winning teams from round 2A play against winning teams from round 2A and winning teams from round 2B play against winning teams from round 2B. Round 3 rules do not allow two teams that have played each other in a provincial match to meet again. The four winners of these matches play the four beaten provincial finalists in Round 4.

The following teams take part in round 3 -

Round 4

In the fourth round of the qualifiers, the four winning teams of Round 3A and Round 3B play the four beaten provincial finalists. Round 4 rules do not allow two teams that have played each other in a provincial match to meet again if such a pairing can be avoided. The four winners of these matches play the provincial champions in the All-Ireland Quarter-Finals.

The following teams take part in round 4 -

All-Ireland Quarter-Finals

The four provincial champions play the winners from Round 4 of the qualifiers. Draw rules - 1: Two teams who met in a provincial final cannot meet again 2: If one of the provincial champions has already met one of the qualifiers in an earlier match then those two teams cannot be drawn together if such a pairing can be avoided.

All-Ireland Semi-Finals

There is no draw for the semi-finals as the fixtures are pre-determined on a three yearly rotation. This rotation ensures that a provinces's champions play the champions of all the other provinces once every three years in the semi-finals if they each win their quarter-finals and prevents two provincial champions meeting in the semi-finals in successive years. If a qualifier team beats a provincial winner in a quarter-final, the qualifier team takes that provincial winner's place in the semi-final.

Broadcast Rights

Matches will be broadcast live on television in Ireland on RTÉ and Sky Sports under a new five-year contract that was agreed in December 2016. In the United Kingdom, matches will be shown on Sky Sports and worldwide coverage will be provided on GAAGO. RTÉ Radio 1 will also have full radio rights to all championship games which were previously shared with Newstalk.

RTÉ coverage will be shown on RTÉ One on The Sunday Game Live presented by Michael Lyster in high definition. Des Cahill will present The Sunday Game highlights and analysis show on Sunday evening.