The Rugby Broadcast Report Issue 15: TV Guide and Rugby Media Rights Update

Never miss a game

Welcome to the Rugby Broadcast Report, a weekly newsletter covering the weekend’s televised rugby action and the latest developments in rugby media rights.

It’s derby weekend in the Gallagher PREM and round 3 of the URC kicks off on Friday night with Munster v Edinburgh.

While there is no Pro D2 this weekend, the Rugby Europe Super Cup is back for a fifth season, with free live coverage on Rugby Europe TV and selected fixtures also being shown on RugbyPass TV. Current champions Black Lion have opted out of this year’s competition.

On Sunday there is a repeat of last season’s Top 14 final as Toulouse host Bordeaux. There is also coverage of the Scottish Premiership, the NPC quarter finals, the PWR Cup Final, and the Rugby Europe Conference all to look forward to over a bumper weekend of rugby.

Irish and UK kick-off and broadcast details for all televised games are listed below.*

Fixture of the weekend (admittedly biased)

URC: Leinster v Sharks
Kick-off: 5:30pm Irish & UK time
TV: Premier Sports 1 & Online / NOW (Delayed coverage on URC TV)
Verdict: Leinster by 10

Quote of the week

Since we acquired the rights for the Investec Champions Cup, our audience figures have doubled for URC

The CEO of Premier Sports, Richard Sweeney, revealed this week that acquiring the broadcast rights to the Champions Cup has led to a strong increase in viewership of the URC. While no exact figures were released, Sweeney’s remarks align with what he told me during an interview I held with the Irish broadcaster’s CEO earlier this year (link below).

The broadcast number

1,026,000 – the number of subscribers that Ligue 1+, Ligue 1 football’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform, acquired after just one from the launch date. When DAZN pulled out of its broadcast agreement with Ligue 1 after just one season, French football’s top tier competition decided to launch its own streaming service and in doing so became the first major European football league to broadcast directly to fans, instead of using a traditional broadcaster. It is too early to determine whether the service has been a success but it is undoubtedly a strong start and other sports and leagues will be keeping a close eye on its performance.

Rugby media rights news

• Champ Rugby has announced that the opening round of the season attracted over 30,000 fans in attendance and viewers on Clubber TV. Around 9,000 attended Worcester’s victory over Coventry. Tournament organisers had previously stated that one game per round would be shown on YouTube, but this is no longer the case — Clubber TV will instead stream one game per weekend for free, while the other fixtures will be behind a paywall.

• World Rugby has confirmed that Chile will replace Samoa as Italy’s opponents in the Nations Series match in Genoa on 22 November following the South American team’s qualification for Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027.

• Rugby Australia announced that the 2025 Bledisloe Cup opener drew a peak audience of 1.7 million and an average of 893,000 viewers on Nine – the highest for any rugby Test since the network secured broadcast rights. Stan Sport also recorded its biggest-ever streaming audience for a Bledisloe match, capping off a record-breaking Super Rugby Pacific season that saw significant year-on-year growth. Rugby Australia says the surge in viewership reflects renewed national interest as the “golden decade” of home World Cups and major tournaments begins.

• PWR and Limitless have announced a new partnership in which Limitless will produce four games every weekend over an 18-week regular season (ensuring all nine PWR clubs’ matches are broadcast live), in addition to both semi-finals and the PWR final. Limitless will produce and deliver all PWR live content, including one marquee match per week on TNT Sports and one match per week on BBC iPlayer, with the remaining two matches per week streamed on PWR’s official YouTube channel.

• According to the IrishRugby+ website: “Fans in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal can watch Ireland take on New Zealand in Chicago live on IrishRugby+” for €10. The match is a repeat of the historic clash that was held at the same venue in 2016 when Ireland beat the All Blacks for the first time. Kick off is at 8:10pm Irish & UK time on November 1st 2025.

• Brian O’Driscoll and Ugo Monye have both been nominated for the Pundit of the Year award Broadcast Sport Awards 2025. The winners will be revealed on 13 November 2025

Here’s your full TV guide for this weekend’s action:

Friday 10 October

• 7:10am – Otago v Waikato (NPC) – Sky Sports + / NOW

• 6:00pm – Castilla y Leon Iberians v Brussels Devils (Rugby Europe Super Cup) – Rugby Europe TV

• 7:35pm – Hawick v Currie (Scottish Premiership) – BBC ALBA / BBC iPlayer / YouTube

• 7:45pm – Sale v Newcastle (PREM) – TNT Sports 1 / Discovery+ / NOW

• 7:45pm – Munster v Edinburgh (URC) – TG4 / Premier Sports 1 & Online / URC TV

• 7:45pm – Scarlets v Stormers (URC) – Premier Sports 2 & Online / S4C / BBC iPlayer / YouTube / NOW

• 7:45pm – London Scottish v Nottingham (Champ) – Clubber TV

Saturday 11 October

• 4:10am – Bay of Plenty v Tasman (NPC) – Sky Sports + / NOW

• 7:10am – Hawke’s Bay v Taranaki (NPC) – Sky Sports + / NOW

• 1:00pm – Slovenia v Hungary (Rugby Europe Conference) – Rugby Europe TV

• 1:00pm – Romanian Wolves v Delta (RE Super Cup) – Rugby Europe TV / RugbyPass TV

• 1:30pm – Pau v Bayonne (Top 14) – Premier Sports Online Only / Unavailable live in ROI

• 2:00pm – Saracens Women v Harlequins Women (PWR Cup Final) – YouTube

• 2:30pm – Doncaster v Cambridge (Champ) – Clubber TV

• 2:30pm – Hartpury RFC v Worcester Warriors (Champ) – Clubber TV

• 3:00pm – Ampthill v Cornish Pirates (Champ) – Clubber TV

• 3:00pm – Caldy v Richmond (Champ) – Clubber TV

• 3:00pm – Coventry v Bedford Blues (Champ) – Clubber TV

• 3:00pm – Ealing Trailfinders v Chinnor (Champ) – Clubber TV

• 3:00pm – Benetton v Lions (URC) – Premier Sports Online / URC TV

• 3:00pm – Ospreys v Zebre (URC) – Premier Sports 2 & Online / NOW / URC TV

• 3:00pm – Bristol v Exeter (PREM) – TNT Sports Extra / Discovery+ / Unavailable on NOW

• 3:05pm – Northampton v Leicester (PREM) – TNT Sports 1 / Discovery+ / NOW

• 3:30pm – Lusitanos v Bohemia Rugby Warriors (RE Super Cup) – Rugby Europe TV / RugbyPass TV

• 3:35pm – Racing 92 v Montpellier (Top 14) – Premier Sports Online Only / Unavailable live in ROI

• 5:30pm – Leinster v Sharks (URC) – Premier Sports 1 & Online / NOW (Exclusive)

• 5:30pm – Glasgow v Dragons (URC) – Premier Sports 2 & Online / NOW / URC TV

• 5:30pm – Bath v Gloucester (PREM) – TNT Sports 1 / Discovery+ / NOW

• 7:45pm – Ulster v Bulls (URC) – Premier Sports 1 & Online / NOW / URC TV

• 7:45pm – Cardiff v Connacht (URC) – S4C / BBC iPlayer / YouTube / TG4 / Premier Sports 2 & Online / NOW / URC TV

• 8:00pm – Clermont v Toulon (Top 14) – Premier Sports Rugby & Stream / Unavailable live in ROI

Sunday 12 October

• 2:10am – Canterbury v Counties Manukau (NPC) – Sky Sports + / NOW

• 3:00pm – Harlequins v Saracens (PREM) – TNT Sports 1 / Discovery+ / NOW

• 8:05pm – Toulouse v Bordeaux (Top 14) – Premier Sports 2 & Online / NOW

Useful links (all free)

• Rugby Europe TV (RE Conference & Super Cup)

• YouTube (URC – UK only)

• RugbyPass TV (RE Super Cup)

• Clubber TV (Free coverage of Hartpury v Worcester only)

• YouTube (PWR Cup Final)

Final thoughts

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*Information subject to change. Website version of this guide will be updated if required.