Independent TV firm wins broadcast rights for Guinness PRO14
Independent television sports production company Sunset+Vine, which is part of west Wales-headquartered global media group Tinopolis, has secured a multi-million-pound contract to produce live games for rugby’s Guinness PRO14 league.
The three-year contract has been awarded by Premier Sports, which earlier this year secured the rights to broadcast games for the league, which as well as the four Welsh regions has teams from Scotland, Ireland, South Africa and Italy.
The independent TV sports producer behind BT Sport’s rugby and Premier League coverage will produce over 200 hours of live rugby coverage for Premier Sports each season, including the annual showpiece final, which this season will be at Celtic Park in May 2019.
Richard Sweeney, chief executive of Premier Sports, said; “We are very happy to confirm that Sunset+Vine is going to be producing our coverage of the Guinness PRO14 following a very competitive tender process.
“Appointing the leading UK rugby production company demonstrates our commitment to delivering the very best coverage of the tournament. The Guinness PRO14 is a hugely important property for Premier Sports and in Sunset+Vine’s hands we know that their quality and wealth of experience in rugby production will deliver the best for our viewers.”
Premier Sports signed the threeyear deal with PRO14 Rugby to show all 152 games live each season across the UK and Northern Ireland in April.
The new season kicks off on August 31, with all seven live games live on Premier Sports and Free Sports on the opening weekend.
Cerith Williams, executive producer, Wales, for Sunset+Vine, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this contract by Premier Sports. We are proud of our track record in rugby that spans seven years of the Aviva Premiership, first with ESPN and subsequently for the past four years with BT Sport.
“Add to this our experience with the Champions and Challenge Cups in the UK, Lions Tours, Rugby World Cups and production of the Six Nations in Italy, and we believe we are well-placed to deliver the Guinness PRO14 with the quality of coverage that this world-class competition deserves.”
Premier Sports and Sunset+Vine will be announcing their line-up of commentators, analysts and presenters over the coming weeks. However, it said that new and familiar faces will be drawn from a pool of top talent across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Premier Sports was founded in 2009 and operates three sports TV channels in the UK.
To watch PRO14 games on Premier Sports there is a subscription fee of £9.99 a month or £99 per year, although some 21 games will be shown via Free Sports to Sky and Virgin customers.
Some games will also be shown live by S4C.
As well as Sunset+Vine, Tinopolis’ companies in the UK include Mentorn Media and Tinopolis Cymru. It also has operations in the US and the Middle East.