WRU chief quizzed on Amazon TV agreement

WELSH Rugby Union boss Steve Phillips insisted there was no comparable free-to-air TV deal on the table following the news that Amazon will have the rights to Wales’ autumn international.

Phillips was quizzed by politicians over Wales’ autumn Tests moving off free-to-air television, with no live coverage on S4C.

The upcoming series against New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Fiji will only be available on paywall streaming service Amazon Prime Video.

When Amazon won the TV rights for last autumn’s Nations Cup series, Wales’ games were also shown live by S4C.

But that will not be case this time around, with S4C only transmitting highlights an hour after the final whistle.

The lack of free-to-air coverage of the series, which begins with next week’s visit of the All Blacks to Cardiff on October 30, has been a controversial matter which has sparked plentiful debate.

WRU chief executive Phillips was questioned on the issue when he appeared in front of the Senedd’s Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport and International Relations Committee yesterday.

He was asked, in particular, about the impact on Welsh culture and the Welsh language.

“There are two points here and there is a lot of commentary about it,” Phillips said.

“There is the issue about the Welsh language and there is a different conversation, then, about freeto-air and pay TV.

“They are two separate questions.” On the Amazon deal, he said: “It’s worth understanding that all international media rights are now sold as a collective via the Six Nations.

“So, Wales don’t do it as a standalone item.

“While I can’t go into too much detail because of commercial considerations, we didn’t really have a comparable free-to-air offer.

“In Wales, rugby is absolutely part of our DNA and we are very conscious of the sport having to be accessible to all.

“The flip side of that is we are in a professional sport and, whether we like it or not, professional sport does get very expensive.

“The real point here is the way sport is going, it needs to be a mix of free-to-air and pay TV.

“But we make it very clear to all our Six Nations partners and all our broadcasters that we require a Welsh language provision.”