11th-hour bid to keep Six Nations free to air
AN 11th-hour attempt is being made to stop the Six Nations from controversially disappearing behind a TV pay wall.
And there are renewed calls for the world-renowned tournament to be upgraded to Category A status along with events such as the FA Cup final, the Olympics and Wimbledon, each of which are made available to every television viewer.
The moves, reported in The Rugby
Paper, suggest the argument over which TV company will be able to show the competition in the coming years will rage for a while yet.
Sky had emerged as favourites to claim exclusive broadcasting rights until 2024 as part of a £300 million offer. However, the news provoked a huge reaction, with many outraged at the suggestion that competition organisers were not allowing joint bids of the sort that allowed BBC and ITV to win the day the last time the rights were up for auction. But it seems the pair have been able to team up, after all.
The Rugby Paper quotes Julian Knight, chair of the cross-party Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, as saying: “We’re pleased that in response to our letters, Six Nations has confirmed that joint bids are now being considered.”
He went on to say the BBC have confirmed they have put in a bid that “would involve a sub-licence with ITV.”
Politicians have previously said a Category A listed event is “one which is generally felt to have special national resonance” and which contains “an element which serves to unite the nation, a shared point on the national calendar, not solely of interest to those who follow the sport in question”. The Six Nations would seem to tick that box in Wales especially, with the Grand Slam game with Ireland last year at peak commanding a startling 87 percent of the watching TV audience in the country.
Other matches have also yielded impressive viewing figures across all four home countries.
All of which, allied to the threat of the tournament being grabbed by Sky or a sports streaming service, has prompted a fresh move for the Six Nations to be given protected Category A status, thereby keeping it on terrestrial TV. Knight said: “We have formally requested the DCMS secretary of state Olive Dowden considers moving the Six Nations from Category B to Category A of listed sports.”
The Grand National and the Rugby League Challenge Cup final also come into Category A status.
There have been claims that going behind a pay wall would destroy the Six Nations’ following and huge appeal, but the counter argument is the sport needs money.
It leaves organisers with a huge call to make, one that is going to split opinion whatever they decide. ■ The ONLY game to survive virus shutdown: SportWales