Galway entered the championship as the defending champions in search of a fourth successive title.

[2] On 10 July 2021, Galway won the championship after a 1-17 to 1-14 defeat of Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final.

On 29 June 2020, the Munster Council announced that they were abandoning the round robin for one year and reverting to a straight knockout format.

The changes saw the adoption of a straight knockout format, while the championship was also spilt in two with the top 9 teams in the province participating.

[5] The All-Ireland quarter-final round robin was also abandoned, with the Leinster champions receiving a bye to the All-Ireland final, while the Munster champions will play Galway in a lone semi-final.