Rugby Union

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Rugby Union
Global

Boutique agencies were at the fore in the sales process for international rights to the British & Irish Lions 2021 tour of South Africa, with the bigger players opting not to participate due to the carving out of key territories.
Rugby Union
United Kingdom

Tech giant Amazon’s acquisition of UK rights to the Autumn Nations Cup competition has triggered a debate over whether the company will now embark upon a concerted push into rugby.
Rugby Union
United Kingdom

The British & Irish Lions touring side maintained the value of its media rights in the UK and Ireland in a deal with pay-television broadcaster Sky for next year’s tour of South Africa.
Rugby Union
United Kingdom

Premiership Rugby, operator of the top division of English rugby union, is entering the final season of its domestic rights deal with BT with no clear plan for the forthcoming cycle after rejecting a robust renewal offer, industry sources told SportBusiness Media.
Rugby Union
United Kingdom

Six Nations Rugby, the organising body of the annual national team tournament, has paused the sales process for the next cycle of domestic and international rights to the Six Nations and Autumn Internationals due to the widespread uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Rugby Union
Australia

Australian commercial broadcaster Nine Entertainment has recruited Murray Shaw, an experienced sports production executive in Australia, as its head of rugby
Rugby Union
United Kingdom

UK pay-television broadcaster BT Sport is to broadcast all Premiership Rugby matches played behind closed doors this season and will offer free access to club season ticket holders until at least the end…
Rugby Union
Europe

Rugby Europe, the administrative body for rugby union in Europe, has hired the River Media Partners and Sports Media Venture agencies to develop its media and sponsorship rights revenues
Rugby Union
United Kingdom

Six Nations Rugby, the organising body of the annual national team tournament, will restart its sales process in late January for broadcast rights in the UK to the Six Nations and Autumn Internationals,…

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Rugby Union
South Africa

South African pay-television broadcaster Supersport is finalising deals to renew its rights for Sanzaar and South African Rugby Union properties for the 2021-25 cycle, SportBusiness Media understands.
Rugby Union
New Zealand

The battle between Sky and Spark for control of New Zealand’s sports broadcasting and streaming market has resulted in a major revenue increase for rugby union rights-holders New Zealand Rugby and Sanzaar.
Rugby Union
Global

Pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus is facing a big loss on international rights to the French Top 14 rugby union competition following difficulties securing distribution in key markets.
Rugby Union
France

Public broadcaster France Télévisions renewed its free-to-air rights to the final of the country’s Top 14 rugby union club competition for the 2019-23 cycle at around the same level as its previous deal, SportBusiness Media understands.
Rugby Union
France

French commercial broadcaster TF1 was expecting to recoup 40 per cent of its outlay on the 2019 Rugby World Cup from its ill-fated attempt to find a sublicensee, SportBusiness Media understands.
Rugby Union
Australia

The value of Rugby World Cup rights in Australia has declined sharply after a big increase at their last sale, hit by a strong downturn in interest in rugby union in the territory.
Rugby Union
France

The Ligue Nationale de Rugby’s desire for greater revenues drove the shift to a minimum guarantee from a pure revenue share in its renewal of the Top 14 international rights distribution contract with Canal Plus.
Football
Italy

Pay-television platform Sky Italia and Perform Group’s OTT service DAZN will probably both be happy with the outcome of an intense period of rights negotiations in Italy.
Rugby Union
Global

RDA to pay minimum guarantee of about £500,000 per season for Pro14 international rights The agency is understood to have already secured more than £1m per season in sales
Rugby Union
Ireland

The Pro14 cross-border rugby union league will almost double the value of its UK and Ireland media rights once it completes its remaining deals for 2018-19 onward.

Rugby Union
New Zealand

Telco Spark acquired rights to the 2019 Rugby World Cup last week, outbidding Sky New Zealand in a deal which could shake up the country’s media-rights market.

Rugby Union
Global

European Professional Club Rugby has agreed four media-rights deals in recent weeks which it hopes will increase the exposure of its competitions.

Rugby Union

In the latest interactive monthly data report, TV Sports Markets analyses the media-rights landscape in rugby union.
Rugby Union
Global

The media-rights value of the Six Nations is dominated by those nations that compete in the tournament: England; France; Ireland; Italy; Scotland and Wales. International rights represent about 5.3 per cent of the global media-rights value in 2018.
Rugby Union
Asia

The annual value of Six Nations media rights in Asia has been cut almost in half following a new deal with OTT service RugbyPass.

Rugby Union
France

French commercial broadcaster TF1 has acquired rights to the 2019 Rugby World Cup after taking up an option in its deal for the 2015 tournament, TV Sports Markets understands.

Rugby Union
Ireland

The Irish Rugby Football Union roughly doubled the value of domestic rights to Ireland autumn internationals in a deal with public-service broadcaster RTÉ, and is still to sell rights in the UK.

Rugby Union
Australia

Australian public-service broadcaster SBS has renewed its deal for non-exclusive rights to the national rugby union team’s ongoing matches for roughly the same annual fee.

Rugby Union
Global

Rugby union experts expect the value of international media rights to Europe’s club competitions to decline in any new deal, with a tender covering a new cycle issued this week.