RUGBY RANT
Women’s Six Nations rugby deser ves linear T V coverage, argues Sarah Rendell
“Just imagine the viewing figure if all of the games had
been put on a TV channel”
THE COVERAGE of the Guinness Women’s
Six Nations on TV has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. The BBC became the exclusive broadcaster for the competition in
2021, seeing England games featured on their main channels, and there are more matches on TV now than ever before. All of the games across the competition are available to watch for fans, but some fixtures are put on iPlayer rather than on terrestrial TV.
It’s good that supporters can watch and engage in matches that they would not have been able to a few years ago. However, with the impressive viewing statistics we’ve seen over the last few years, all of the games should be shown on a channel as opposed to the iPlayer.
In the UK the 2023 Women’s Six Nations was watched for a total of 10.4 million hours. Just imagine the figure if all of the games had been put on a television channel. The games could have been stumbled upon by casual viewers of rugby. Having the fixtures on iPlayer limits the amount of new viewers as they would have to seek the match out when they may not even know it is taking place.
The games selected for iPlayer are those that are likely to have less appeal to viewers. England fixtures are put on a TV channel rather than the streaming service. But as we’ve seen in previous women’s tournaments, not to mention the 2024 men’s competition, exciting fixtures can come from all across the championship.
The women’s game has more than proved there is a healthy appetite from TV audiences. It is not just the Women’s Six Nations that has seen fans sit on their sofas to watch the action, the Women’s Rugby World Cup also drew large numbers. ITV reported a peak viewership of 2.6 million people for the final, which saw England narrowly lose 34-31 to hosts New Zealand. And so broadcasters have evidence that if you build it, fans will come.
Now is the time to go all in on the Women’s Six Nations, to put all of the matches on a channel. The Rugby World Cup is just around the corner, being hosted in England in 2025. Momentum can build from now with fans. They may see a closely fought match that inspires them to go to a women’s game and it could lead to them buying a World Cup ticket.
The RFU has an ambition to sell out Twickenham for the final – and it could all start with new supporters coming across a Women’s Six
Nations game on the telly.