The Rugby Broadcast Report Issue 27: Rugby Media Rights Update & TV Guide – Sky Secures Super Rugby Until 2028
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.
Despite only seven days passing since the last newsletter, it has been another interesting week on the media rights front, with reaction to ITV’s new in-play adverts, Sky quietly securing Super Rugby Pacific rights and strong viewership figures for the opening weekend of the Six Nations.
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
Sky Sports has very quietly confirmed that the broadcaster will continue to broadcast Super Rugby Pacific in Ireland and the UK until 2028. Curiously, Sky has yet to publish a press release confirming the details of the new deal. During the week the UK broadcaster added four Super Rugby fixtures to its listing for the opening round of the competition this weekend but it wasn’t until Thursday (February 12th) that Sky’s main sports account on Twitter posted that the rights have been renewed until 2028.
As noted last week, Sky’s previous deal ended in 2025 but it remains to be seen if the new deal includes the rights to the Rugby Championship, Currie Cup or New Zealand’s NPC – all of which were included in the last deal. It is also unclear if the All Blacks tour of South Africa will be included.
The launch of the new Nations Championship and the subsequent deals recently announced with ITV and Virgin Media likely impacted the negotiations. The international summer tour fixtures that had traditionally been included in Sky’s previous deals with SANZAAR are now included in the rights deals that ITV and Virgin Media have secured. Once Sky releases more information I will provide clarity in a future newsletter.
Quote of the week
63% of fans who watched the Six Nations over the weekend noticed the in-game advertising, with 59% of those viewers holding a net negative opinion of the new advertising slot. As brands consider the value of advertising in this space, they will have to consider whether the benefits of the increased exposure outweigh the current sentiment among rugby fans. – Lewis Partridge (YouGov)
As most readers will be aware, ITV’s coverage of the Six Nations now includes two adverts during its live coverage. Much of the reaction to the adverts was quite negative on social media and a YouGov poll has confirmed that a majority of viewers had a negative opinion of the ads.
YouGov did note, however, that the adverts were arguably effective: the top two adverts recalled by those surveyed were Samsung (14%) and Virgin (12%), which were the two brands that featured. One of the main criticisms has been the sound from the adverts cutting across the main commentary feed and it will be interesting to see if this will be adjusted in future coverage.
Another interesting angle to the debate is that the CEO of Six Nations, Tom Harrison, was very open about the importance of the in-play adverts during a recent interview with SportsPro (link below) in Six Nations’ negotiations with ITV and in turn ensuring that the competition remained on free-to-air TV.
In this week’s Unofficial Partner podcast The Bundle (highly recommended), Murray Barnett, formerly of World Rugby, suggested that “finger in the air, I would guess that in terms of ITV’s commercial revenues, the values of those two slots (in-game adverts) per game are worth 20% of the total inventory.” Barnett also proposed that it was the Six Nations that tabled the option of in-play adverts and not necessarily ITV.
The broadcast number
5 million – England v Wales delivered ITV’s biggest peak audience of 2026 so far, with 5 million viewers across ITV1 and ITVX. The Six Nations fixture also attracted ITV's biggest sports audience of the year, with a 4.6 million average on ITV1 and ITVX.
Viewership performance
France TV Sport recorded 7.24 million viewers and a 39% audience share during its coverage of the opening fixture of the Six Nations between France and Ireland. This marked the highest-rated rugby broadcast in recent years.
According to TAM Ireland, the Champions Cup clash between Leinster and La Rochelle on January 10th was the most watched programme on Premier Sports 1 in Ireland in January. Significantly, the fixture rated higher than the Premier League and Champions Cup.
TAM Ireland reported that Leinster v Connacht was the second most watched programme on TG4 in January.
In an interview on the DSPN podcast, Super Rugby CEO Jack Mesley claimed that Super Rugby Pacific “rates” better at present, compared to when South African sides were involved in the competition.
TNT Sports moving, again
Streaming access to TNT Sports is moving from discovery+ to HBO Max in the UK on March 26th. As things stand in Ireland, TNT Sports will remain on NOW and will not be moving to HBO Max.
Rights watch
At the time of writing, SANZAAR has yet to sign a deal with a broadcaster in France for rights to Super Rugby Pacific. Canal+’s previous deal has ended but according to French journalist Gauthier Baudin, negotiations are still on-going with an unnamed broadcaster.
S4C is live streaming Wales’ U20 Six Nations fixtures on YouTube for the first time. The streaming coverage is being provided alongside the channel’s usual TV coverage and streaming coverage on S4C Clic and the BBC iPlayer.
As noted last week, RugbyPass has confirmed that all Super Rugby Pacific fixtures this season will be available for free, both live and on-demand, across RugbyPass’ various channels in the US.
Here’s your full TV guide for this weekend’s action:
Friday 13 February
6:05am – Highlanders v Crusaders (Super Rugby Pacific) – Sky Sports+ / NOW
8:35am – Waratahs v Reds (Super Rugby Pacific) – Sky Sports+ / NOW
3:00pm – Munster A v Ulster A (Inter Pro) – Access Munster
6:30pm – Ireland Club XV v Scottish Clubs (Friendly) – Irish Rugby+
7:15pm – Scotland U20s v England U20s (U20s Six Nations) – BBC iPlayer / Virgin Media
7:30pm – Old Belvedere v Tullow (Women’s AIL) – YouTube
7:45pm – Ireland U20s v Italy U20s (U20s Six Nations) – BBC iPlayer / RTÉ 2 & Player
7:45pm – Harlequins v Northampton (PREM Rugby Cup) – TNT Sports 3 / discovery+ / NOW
7:45pm – London Scottish v Worcester Warriors (Champ) – Clubber TV
7:45pm – Nottingham v Cambridge (Champ) – Clubber TV
8:00pm – Coventry v Richmond (Champ) – Clubber TV
Saturday 14 February
5:30am – Shizuoka Blue Revs v Kubota Spears (League One) – Premier Sports Rugby & Online / Unavailable live in Ireland
6:05am – Blues v Chiefs (Super Rugby Pacific) – Sky Sports+ / NOW
8:35am – Western Force v Brumbies (Super Rugby Pacific) – Sky Sports+ / NOW
12:00pm – Germany v Portugal (Rugby Europe Championship) – RugbyPass TV / Rugby Europe TV
12:00pm – Gloucester-Hartpury Women v Harlequins Women (PWR) – TNT Sports 3 / discovery+ / NOW
12:30pm – Brython Thunder v Edinburgh (Celtic Challenge) – BBC iPlayer / YouTube
1:00pm – Gwalia Lightning v Clovers (Celtic Challenge) – BBC iPlayer / TG4 Player
1:30pm – Bordeaux v Castres (Top 14) – Premier Sports 2 & Online / NOW
2:00pm – Ampthill v Chinnor (Champ) – Clubber TV
2:00pm – Caldy v Cornish Pirates (Champ) – Clubber TV
2:10pm – Ireland v Italy (Six Nations) – ITV1 & ITVX / Virgin Media 1 & Player
2:30pm – Doncaster v Bedford Blues (Champ) – Clubber TV
2:30pm – Hartpury RFC v Ealing Trailfinders (Champ) – Clubber TV
3:00pm – Trailfinders Women v Sale Sharks Women (PWR) – YouTube
3:35pm – Perpignan v Pau (Top 14) – Premier Sports 2 & Online / NOW
4:40pm – Scotland v England (Six Nations) – ITV1 & ITVX / Virgin Media 1 & Player
7:00pm – Spain v Switzerland (Rugby Europe Championship) – RugbyPass TV / Rugby Europe TV
8:00pm – Toulon v Clermont (Top 14) – Premier Sports 2 & & Online / NOW
8:00pm – Wales U20s v France U20s (U20s Six Nations) – S4C / BBC iPlayer / YouTube / RTÉ Player
Sunday 15 February
5:30am – Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo v Kobelco Kobe Steelers (League One) – Premier Sports Rugby & Online / Unavailable live in Ireland
12:00pm – Netherlands v Georgia (Rugby Europe Championship) – RugbyPass TV / Rugby Europe TV
1:00pm – Exeter Chiefs Women v Loughborough Lightning (PWR) – YouTube
1:30pm – Saracens Women v Bristol Bears Women (PWR) – BBC iPlayer
2:00pm – Glasgow v Wolfhounds (Celtic Challenge) – TG4 Player / YouTube
3:10pm – Wales v France (Six Nations) – S4C / BBC1 / Premier Sports 1 & Rugby & Online / RTÉ 2 & Player
5:00pm – Romania v Belgium (Rugby Europe Championship) – RugbyPass TV / Rugby Europe TV
8:05pm – Stade Français v Toulouse (Top 14) – Premier Sports Rugby & Online / Unavailable live in Ireland
*TV guide subject to change. The website version of this newsletter will be updated if required.
Useful links
Final thoughts
Thanks for reading. If you’ve enjoyed this week’s newsletter please consider sharing it.