ITV secures Nations Championship TV rights, extends Prem Rugby deal
At a glance
ITV to show every Nations Championship game live in 2026 and 2028
The broadcaster also secures the rights to Summer Nations Series, July Internationals and Autumn Nations Series 2029
The reported value of the deal is £80-90 million
Prem Rugby rights retained for another two seasons
FTA international rugby
Rugby fans in the UK have a minimum of 124 live internationals on FTA TV to look forward to over the next four years. ITV confirmed this week that the broadcaster has secured the rights to the Nations Championship in 2026 and 2028.
In addition, ITV has acquired the rights to the Summer Nations Series, which takes place prior to the Men’s Rugby World Cup in 2027. In this week’s announcement it was also confirmed that the UK broadcaster will broadcast the July Internationals and Autumn Nations Series in 2029.
The reported value of the deal for the Nations Championship rights is £80-90 million according to multiple media outlets, although it is worth noting that ITV has not confirmed these figures.
TNT Sports were expected to secure the rights but it is understood that the value of ITV’s bid was deemed too high for TNT Sports to submit a counter bid.
According to The Telegraph, a free-to-air broadcaster will likely secure the rights in Ireland.
It is important to highlight that while the Nations Championship broadcast revenues are pooled together and shared by the participating teams, Japan and Fiji, as invited guests, will receive a participation fee only.
Free-to-air Prem Rugby retained
Separately ITV has extended its partnership with Prem Rugby and will continue to show seven live fixtures, including the final, per season until 2028. All of these fixtures will continue to be simulcast on TNT Sports.
The Rugby Broadcast take
This week’s announcement is welcome news for rugby fans in the UK for numerous reasons. ITV’s commitment to rugby has injected some much needed competition into the rugby media rights landscape. A number of media outlets had reported that TNT Sports were in contention to acquire the rights, particularly after shifting its focus from the Champions Cup to international rugby.
However, it seems that TNT Sports dropped out of the race to acquire the rights due to the size of the bid submitted by ITV. In recent years Sky has decided to focus on other sports, apart from the Lions Tour and SANZAAR fixtures (it is worth noting that Sky’s SANZAAR deal ended in 2025 and the broadcaster has not confirmed whether it will sign a new deal).
ITV has built a strong rugby portfolio, which now includes the shared rights to the Six Nations, Prem Rugby, the new Nations Championship, the Summer Nations Series, the Autumn Nations Series and the July Internationals. As such, rugby’s profile in the UK could grow now that more rugby is available on a FTA basis.
Another fascinating development is that ITV has publicly confirmed that it is in preliminary discussions with Sky in relation to a potential take-over so the rugby media rights landscape could look a lot different in the years to come.