Six Nations to stay free to air
SIX Nations bosses have agreed a new broadcast deal with BBC and ITV relating to all three tournament editions.
The joint bid from the free-to-air broadcasters has resulted in an agreement in principle with Championship bosses, and Six Nations Rugby has now entered exclusive discussions with them to share broadcast rights for the men’s, women’s and Under-20s’ Six Nations.
The four-year term would begin in 2022 and end after the 2025 Championships.
ITV are expected to broadcast home matches in the men’s Six Nations for England, Ireland, Italy and France, while the BBC will broadcast all of Wales and Scotland’s home fixtures.
In a major step forward for the Women’s Six Nations, broadcast rights have been negotiated alongside the men’s tournaments and the BBC will broadcast the women’s tournament exclusively with “unprecedented investment”. During the shortened, postponed tournament this year, the BBC showed every game on the iPlayer, with just two matches shown on terrestrial TV: the final between England and France on BBC Two and Wales’ clash with Ireland on BBC Wales.
The Under-20s Championship will also receive “consistent coverage” on the BBC.
After BBC and ITV’s joint broadcast deal came to an end after the 2021 men’s championship after five years, it had been feared that TV coverage of Europe’s showpiece rugby event would go behind a paywall, especially with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners buying a stake and looking to increase commercial revenue, with Sky, Amazon and BT the obvious paywall competitors.
A Six Nations statement said: “No further comment will be made at this point from any of the parties until such time as the contract terms have been concluded.”
Six Nations chief executive Ben Morel said: “This is exciting news for fans and for our Championships.
“Both BBC and ITV have been excellent partners in recent years playing an important role in sharing the incredible moments that the Six Nations always produces, and celebrating the special place our Championships hold in the hearts of fans.
“I’m particularly excited by the opportunity to grow the women’s game with an invested broadcast partner in the BBC who is as committed as we are. We’re looking forward to working with them both as we continue to raise the bar and bring rugby’s greatest Championships to ever-growing numbers across the UK.”
Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport, said: “For the millions of Six Nations fans across the UK, the Championships remaining free-toair is wonderful news.
“We look forward to delivering live action from both the men’s and women’s as well as the men’s under-20’s Championships to the widest possible audience over the next four seasons. BBC Sport has led the way in increasing the profile of women’s sports, so we are thrilled to now include the Women’s Six Nations as a permanent fixture on our broadcast calendar.”
Niall Sloane, ITV director of sport, said: “ITV is delighted to have reached this agreement, which extends free-to-air coverage of such an important tournament and will ensure it remains centre stage each spring.
“With the addition of France home games to those of England, Ireland and Italy, we look forward to bringing ITV viewers a wealth of superb rugby from the Six Nations in the coming years.”