The Rugby Broadcast Report Issue 24: Rugby Media Rights & TV Guide – No Confirmed Broadcaster for Super Rugby in UK or Ireland
Never miss a game
Welcome to the Rugby Broadcast Report, a weekly newsletter covering the latest developments in rugby media rights, alongside a broadcast and kick-off guide.
It’s been a busy couple of weeks on the media rights front, including a pay-TV move by the Six Nations, more positive viewership figures for the PREM and the potential of a Super Rugby blackout on linear TV. More on all of these stories below.
If you’re looking for rugby to watch this weekend you can find the full Irish and UK TV guide listed below, along with links to various streaming platforms.*
Story of the week
By far the biggest rugby media rights story of the past number of weeks has been the confirmation that Premier Sports will co-broadcast fixtures involving Scotland and Wales in the 2026 Men’s Six Nations. This announcement is significant for a number of reasons, including:
The deal provides both tournament organisers and Premier Sports the opportunity to measure fans’ engagement with a pay-TV alternative to the free-to-air coverage provided by the BBC.
Premier Sports continues to build a significant rugby rights portfolio, and this new deal will give subscribers who only signed up for the Champions Cup (PREM fans) another reason not to cancel their subscription during the international window.
The agreement allows the Six Nations to carve out a means of increasing the value of its media rights, without alienating fans who view the tournament on FTA TV.
Quote of the week
You could be infatuated with watching a one-man band guy walking around in the woods filming his life and doing things and that’s enough to grab your attention against multi-billion dollar media enterprises trying to grab your attention at the same time. It’s such a predicament of: how do we find our space and place to maintain relevancy and increase and augment that, all whilst one man-bands can grab hours of your attention by just grabbing a GoPro or a smartphone and getting to work? –Nick Meacham
This week’s quote is courtesy of the CEO of SportsPro, referring to the Outdoor Boys YouTube channel, during a recent episode of the StreamTime Sports podcast and serves as a timely reminder of a challenge that both broadcasters and sports face. The battle for attention is not simply limited to competition from other broadcasters and sports – it’s also content creators, whose work has never been easier to consume thanks to the likes of YouTube and numerous other platforms.
The broadcast number
5 – the number of Irish rugby matches that featured in the top 10 most watched programmes in Ireland in 2025, according to TAM Ireland/Nielsen Media.
Viewership performance
The PREM continues to attract strong viewership figures this season:
Round 8 secured the 4th highest total television audience for a single round
More than 1.2 million viewers tuned into Round 9
Round 9 also delivered the 2nd highest cumulative peak audience on record
Leicester Tigers v Saracens secured a peak audience of almost 400,000
The Top 14 Round 13 clash between Toulouse and La Rochelle in December attracted an average of over 1m viewers on Canal+, which was the broadcaster’s best audience for a regular season match since 2014.
TAM Ireland’s viewership figures for 2025 highlight rugby’s continued strong viewership on broadcast TV. It is also worth highlighting that the report noted that “viewers aged 15–34 were particularly drawn to major live events, with sport and entertainment dominating their viewing” – with the Six Nations fixture between Ireland and France the third most popular programme amongst this chort.
The popularity of Thursday and Sunday night rugby in France was outlined in a recent article by RugbyPass, which revealed that Canal+'s Sunday night audiences in the 2024-2025 season rose by 10%. An average of 592,000 viewers tune in for the Sunday night fixture compared with 357,000 for the Saturday afternoon slot. Thursday night Pro D2 fixtures attract an average of 90,000 viewers, almost two times more than the Friday night slot.
Separately, the IRFU has reported that Irish women’s rugby attracted 963,000 viewers on RTÉ in 2025, including 168,000 streams on the RTÉ Player for the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Rights watch
ITV has secured a two-year extension to its broadcast agreement with PREM Rugby, securing the rights to broadcast seven live games per season, including the final. The renewal covers the 2026-2027 & 2027-2028 seasons. The broadcaster, which is rumoured to be a potential acquisiton target for Sky, has built a strong rugby portfolio that also includes rights the Six Nations and the new Nations Championship.
The 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season kicks-off in just a few weeks but there is still no confirmed broadcaster for the UK or Ireland. Sky's deal ended in 2025 and there has been no word on a potential renewal. However according to rugby corespondent Nik Simon, Premiers Sports could be about to make a bid. Either way, the good news for fans is that a complete blackout is unlikely. Last season SANZAAR provided free coverage via NZR+ in territories without a broadcast agreement.
Financial constraints at France Televisions have led the public broadcaster to reach a sub-licensing agreement with free-to-air broadcaster TF1 for its Six Nations rights. As part of the agreement nine of the 15 fixtures will be shown on TF1.
The Champ Rugby Round 13 fixture between Richmond and London Scottish was shown for free via the England Rugby YouTube channel in January, which marked the first time that a Champ game was shown on YouTube this season. Before the new rights deal with Clubber TV was announced, tournament organisers had revealed that at least one fixture per round would be streamed on YouTube. However the Round 13 game between Richmond and London Scottish has been the only game streamed on YouTube so far this season – almost certainly due to the agreement with Clubber TV.
According to the BBC, S4C will likely pick up the TV rights for the new Nations Championship that kicks off this year after it was revealed that S4C’s chief executive Geraint Evans told MPs that he is “confident” of securing the rights to the Welsh games.
The Leinster Schools Senior Cup has returned and for the first time in a number of years Premier Sports will not provide any coverage, with all games streaming exclusively on Leinster’s streaming service Leinster Rugby Plus.
Here’s your full TV guide for this weekend’s action:
Thursday 22 January
8:00pm – Agen v Colomiers (Pro D2) – YouTube
Friday 23 January
2:00pm – Newbridge College v Wesley College (Leinster Schools Senior Cup) – Leinster Rugby Plus
7:45pm – Chinnor v Ealing Trailfinders (Champ) – Clubber TV
7:45pm – Nottingham v London Scottish (Champ) – Clubber TV
7:45pm – Gloucester v Bath (PREM) – TNT Sports 1 / discovery+ / NOW
7:45pm – Munster v Dragons (URC) – TG4 & Player / Premier Sports 1 & Online / NOW / URC TV
7:45pm – Ospreys v Lions (URC) – S4C & Clic / BBC iPlayer / YouTube / Premier Sports Rugby / URC TV
7:45pm – Edinburgh v Bulls (URC) – Premier Sports 2 & Online / NOW / URC TV
Saturday 24 January
3:00am – Brave Lupus v Kubota Spears (League One) – Premier Sports Rugby & Online
12:00pm – Delta v Brussels Devils (Super Cup) – Rugby Europe TV / RugbyPass TV
1:00pm – Edinburgh v Gwalia Lightning (Celtic Challenge) – YouTube / BBC iPlayer
1:30pm – Bordeaux v Stade Français (Top 14) – Premier Sports Rugby & Online / Unavailable live in Ireland
2:00pm – Cambridge v Doncaster (Champ) – Clubber TV
2:00pm – Worcester Warriors v Hartpury RFC (Champ) – Clubber TV
2:30pm – Cornish Pirates v Ampthill (Champ) – Clubber TV
2:30pm – Old Belvedere v Cork Constitution (AIL) – YouTube
2:30pm – UCD v Lansdowne (AIL) – YouTube
3:00pm – Bedford Blues v Coventry (Champ) – Clubber TV
3:00pm – Richmond v Caldy (Champ) – Clubber TV
3:00pm – Castilla y León Iberians v Lusitanos (Super Cup) – Rugby Europe TV / RugbyPass TV
3:00pm – Saracens v Newcastle (PREM) – TNT Sports Extra / discovery+
3:00pm – Exeter v Bristol (PREM) – TNT Sports Extra / discovery+
3:00pm – Scarlets v Ulster (URC) – Premier Sports 2 & Online / NOW / URC TV
3:05pm – Harlequins v Leicester (PREM) – TNT Sports 1 / discovery+ / NOW
3:35pm – Toulon v Montpellier (Top 14) – Premier Sports Rugby & Online / Unavailable live in Ireland
5:00pm – Old Belvedere v Galwegians (Women’s AIL) – YouTube
5:30pm – Sale v Northampton (PREM) – TNT Sports 1 / discovery+ / NOW
5:30pm – Stormers v Sharks (URC) – Premier Sports 2 & Online / NOW / URC TV
5:30pm – Connacht v Leinster (URC) – Premier Sports 1 & Online / NOW
7:45pm – Cardiff v Benetton (URC) – Premier Sports 2 & Online / NOW / URC TV
7:45pm – Zebre v Glasgow (URC) – Premier Sports 1 & Online / NOW / URC TV
8:00pm – Toulouse v Pau (Top 14) – Premier Sports Rugby & Online / Unavailable live in Ireland
Sunday 25 January
5:00am – Blue Revs v Toyota Verblitz (League One) – Premier Sports Rugby & Online
12:00pm – Clovers v Brython Thunder (Celtic Challenge) – TG4 Player / BBC iPlayer
3:00pm – Wolfhounds v Glasgow (Celtic Challenge) – TG4 Player / YouTube
8:05pm – Clermont v La Rochelle (Top 14) – Premier Sports Rugby & Online / Unavailable live in Ireland
Useful links
YouTube (Pro D2)
YouTube (URC – UK only)
Clubber TV (Champ)
YouTube (PWR)
YouTube (Celtic Challenge)
epcrugby.tv (Challenge Cup)
Leinster Rugby Plus (Leinster Schools)
Final thoughts
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*TV guide subject to change. The website version of this newsletter will be updated if required.