TV rights shambles is damaging rugby with followers forking out as much as £1,000 a 12 months, writes CHRIS FOY
- The broadcast rights landscape at the top of rugby is now an unwieldy mess
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It makes for a decent quiz question: name the TV channels where you can watch each professional rugby competition.
Only the most committed fans will achieve full marks. If everyone is sitting comfortably, deep breath, here goes…
The Six Nations: BBC and ITV (for now). The World Cup: ITV (again, for now). The Premiership: TNT Sports. Champions Cup: Premier Sports. Next year’s Lions tour of Australia: Sky Sports. Autumn Nations Series: TNT Sports. The Rugby Championship: Sky Sports. United Rugby Championship (URC): Premier Sports. French Top 14: Premier Sports.
As if that wasn’t enough, Japan versus England in June ended up on RugbyPass TV – owned by governing body World Rugby.
And before TNT won the rights off them, Amazon Prime had been showing the November internationals, which required yet another subscription.
The broadcast rights landscape is an unwieldy mess. Good luck keeping tabs on all those monthly payments (to have the lot would cost you over £1,000 a year).
The broadcast rights landscape in rugby is an unwieldy mess is an unwieldy mess. Japan v England in June ended up on RugbyPass TV – owned by governing body World Rugby
The arrival of Premier Sports in the Champions Cup has exposed the fact it’s now horribly expensive to follow rugby across the board. Many die-hard devotees have stopped trying
Premier Sports are smaller than TNT and Sky Sports, so they are relying on a surge in sign-ups
It has become horribly expensive to follow rugby across the board, as die-hard devotees wish to do. Many have simply stopped trying.
The arrival of Premier Sports in the Champions Cup has further exposed this critical issue, after the Irish subscription service pounced when TNT’s offer to retain the rights was knocked back by organisers European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR).
This suits fans in Wales, Scotland and Ireland, who were already subscribing to watch the URC, but not those in England.
Aside from some glitches which saw coverage of one live match suddenly cut to another previous fixture or even to another sport (football) last weekend, the overall product from Premier Sports was fine. They were able to deploy a pedigree roster of presenters and pundits, with the usual freelance crossover between broadcasters.
The issue is fragmentation – and lost visibility. Premier Sports are much smaller than TNT and Sky Sports, so they are relying on a surge in sign-ups at a time of perceived subscriber fatigue, as viewers become weary of continually having to change.
Rugby needs to be seen, but this Champions Cup deal does not include a terrestrial TV element. When the agreement with Premier Sports was belatedly announced in August, EPCR chief executive Jacques Raynaud said: ‘We found it more reasonable to prioritise the value of exclusivity versus free-to-air exposure at this point.’
Frankly, EPCR appear to have secured such a modest amount of revenue – reports suggest they accepted half of the £14million offered by TNT – that they may as well have given the rights to terrestrial channels for free, to raise awareness.
There is a tangible difference every year when the Six Nations comes around and it has the feel of a truly national event with a wider reach, heightened interest, grandeur and profound significance.
Sadly, rugby is not alone in being swept aside by the juggernaut of Premier League football. It swallows up budgets and sponsorships, leaving other sports savagely marginalised.
If the Six Nations – rugby’s annual shop window, which it currently takes for granted – ends up on pay-TV, that is when the sport will be in big trouble.
