World Cup TV deal

What you need to know

Spark and TVNZ securing rights to broadcast the Rugby World Cup next year is being described as “a real kick in the guts” for rural New Zealand.

The rights have previously been held by Sky TV so anyone who had a Sky box would have access to the games.

Next year’s event will see the games broadcast across Spark’s broadband network, however some remote areas in New Zealand have limited internet access or low-speed, which could restrict viewing.

Canterbury sheep farmer Murray Smith said while he had both Sky and Spark broadband, his internet was slow and not capable of streaming video to a high standard.

He said a number of people would be unable to watch games.

“I’m concerned about people that are more remote than us who would probably have got Sky for the fact that they like watching live rugby and they may not have access to broadband,” Smith said.

“It’s a real kick in the guts for rural New Zealand.”

Spark managing director Simon Moutter said the company would try to ensure everyone had access to the event, and in extreme situations would look to screen games at local rugby clubs or schools that had internet.

He said there would only be a small number of people in New Zealand who wouldn’t have access by time the World Cup starts in September 2019.

“We’ll figure out a way to make it accessible, and I do remind people that accessibility for the last Rugby World Cup was limited to homes that had a Sky box,” Moutter said.

Smith said people like his parents — in their mid-80s — were not likely to drive to a school or rugby club to watch the game.

Rural broadband supplier Farmside’s chief executive Jason Sharp said while there was a rural broadband initiative being rolled out, there would be pockets outside that where challenges would arise.

“We’re looking at how we can prioritise delivery of rugby across our internet for customers and looking at technology that will prioritise the traffic, but also data is an issue.”