Rugby fans will continue to be able to watch the Six Nations on free-to-air television after a new broadcasting deal was agreed, but the BBC will no longer screen England matches during the tournament. The BBC and ITV will continue to show live coverage of matches until the end of 2029, while Ireland games will be shared between RTE and Virgin Media. Under the current deal, BBC holds the rights to all Wales and Scotland home matches, while ITV screen England, Ireland, France and Italy’s games. However, under the new agreement, ITV will show all their games home or away and the BBC will no longer broadcast England matches.
The new deal, which starts next season, will see ITV show two matches each weekend, while the BBC are to show one. As a result, ITV will fork out a larger share for the rights of matches that attract the biggest audiences, as the BBC maintains its commitment to showing Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland matches. The exact figures pertaining to how much the deal will be worth has not been disclosed, but this deal will represent an increase on the current £90m package.
Their respective contracts were due to expire following the conclusion of the 2025 edition, with reports that TNT Sports could acquire the rights and put a paywall up in front of international rugby for the first time. But deal has been struck with the Home Nations, France and Italy, along with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, to ensure that doesn’t happen.
The tournament has performed strongly for the terrestrial channels, with audience figures often topping 4million. Free-to-air coverage is seen as a crucial factor in encouraging participation and keeping fans interested in the game. All parties were ‘conscious of the need’ to keep rugby matches on terrestrial channels as a way of keeping viewing figures high and it was never deemed likely that they would walk away from the BBC or ITV.
TNT Sports already own the rights to the Autumn Internationals, which will be replaced by the Nations Championship along with the home unions’ summer tours, TV rights for which are currently sold on a piecemeal basis.
It was thought they would be interested in bidding for the rights, but later suggested the Six Nations represented ‘a challenging landscape’ for pay TV.
It will be regarded as a victory for the average rugby fan at a time when streaming companies are expanding their portfolio of sports coverage.
Meanwhile, the rights for the inaugural Nations Cup – involving 12 nations including the teams participating in the Six Nations – will be sold off at a separate auction.
RFU CEO, Bill Sweeney, said: “We’re really pleased to have retained our broadcast deal for the Six Nations Championships – men’s, women’s and U20s – with ITV and BBC for the next four years.
“It is testament to the significance of the Six Nations, that in an increasingly challenging and competitive broadcast market, ITV and BBC remain committed to providing free-to-air coverage of rugby’s most loved annual Championship and ensuring maximum visibility of our sport.
“We have worked hard to maintain Six Nations on free-to-air channels, and also achieving our financial targets, which is critical in supporting RFU investment in the sport.”
