The Rugby Broadcast Report Issue 29: Rugby Media Rights Update – Increase in Champions Cup Viewership; Live Prem Rugby on Twitch
Rugby media rights: deals, viewership and analysis
Welcome to the latest Rugby Broadcast Report after a short break.
It is safe to say that it has been an eventful few weeks: a Twitch streamer paid a “five-figure sum” to show the Prem in France, Champions Cup viewership is up and free coverage of the Top 14 in Ireland and the UK has been secured. Read more about all of these stories and more below.
As always, you can find the full Irish and UK TV guide listed below, along with links to various streaming platforms.
Story of the week
A French Twitch streamer has followed in the footsteps of FR-UK’s Tim Cocker by picking up the rights to show Prem fixtures in France for the remainder of the current season. The deal is worth a “five-figure sum” and includes the option to show fixtures from the 2026-2027 season.
The streamer, Florian Marliere, recently secured the rights after broadcaster beIN opted not to renew its broadcast agreement with Prem Rugby.
While questions will undoubtedly be raised over the value of the deal, Prem Rugby has managed to secure an agreement in a market that is dominated by the Top 14. This new approach from Prem Rugby demonstrates a willingness to find a creative solution to a problem faced by many rugby leagues – attracting media rights deals in non-domestic markets.
Another key angle to this is the use of Twitch and YouTube to deliver the product – will this move attract newer and younger fans that sports cry out for? Or will the lack of visibility on a more traditional broadcaster lead to low viewership? Broadcasters and leagues should pay close attention.
Quote of the week
Rugby is fragmented across so many different broadcasters. What is the key to rugby’s growth going forward? It has to be the re-aggregation. – Barney Francis (IMG & formerly of Sky Sports)
The fragmented nature of the rugby media rights landscape has been mentioned in this newsletter numerous times. It is frustrating for fans and the sport itself – having multiple competitions shown across various different channels and platforms makes following the sport harder than it should be.
So what is the solution? The obvious answer, of course, is one broadcaster picking up all of the major rights. Premier Sports has made strides in this area – the broadcaster has launched a dedicated rugby channel and now boasts a rugby media rights portfolio that includes major competitions such as the Champions Cup, URC and Top 14 (and other less popular tournaments).
However, Barney Francis made an interesting point on the Broadcast Sport Podcast recently: in order for rugby to grow, the aggregation of the sport does not have to involve one broadcaster acquiring everything; instead, if a broadcaster or platform could aggregate all of the providers in one place, this could be the solution.
If you consider Sky’s recent decision to bundle its primary TV package with Disney+, HBO Max and Netflix (and Hayu) and to integrate its own programming alongside content from numerous platforms in its user interface, it is clear that Sky wants to be the aggregator in the entertainment space.
The broadcast number
147 million – the global broadcast viewing hours for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, which represented a 336% increase compared to the previous WRWC in 2021, according to World Rugby.
Viewership performance
Champions Cup: Premier Sports recorded a 27% increase in audience reach across the pool stages of the current season compared to the previous season. This has been driven by continued growth across the broadcaster’s linear and streaming channels and the app. This increase is undoubtedly welcome news for Premier Sports, particularly at a time when dissatisfaction with the current tournament format persists.
In France beIN SPORTS has seen a 15% year-on-year increase in viewership for the pool stages. Toulouse remain the most popular club for viewers, with an average of 341,000 viewers for their clash against Saracens and 332,000 for the fixture against the Sharks.
EPCR’s YouTube content has also seen a significant uplift – viewership has more-than trebled over the past two seasons – with a projected 27 million views for the current season.
URC TV update
On April 2nd the URC provided an update on the league’s DTC streaming platform URC TV this season:
62% reduction in costs
64% increase in transactions
35% increase in revenue, despite lowering prices in all markets
2.7 times growth in subscribers across 150 countries, with an average season watch time of 20 hours per viewer
As noted in a previous newsletter, the URC launched a new and improved URC TV streaming platform ahead of the 2025-2026 season. RTÉ and the URC had previously partnered to provide the service, but that agreement ended following the conclusion of the 2024-2025 season. From this season the URC has teamed up with Eluvio to provide an enhanced service.
The URC has rarely, if ever, provided such insight into URC TV and it is clear that the cost to run the service has reduced, while the number of subscribers and revenue have grown – which is important at a time when the value of club rugby media rights deals, outside France, have seen little growth. It is also worth mentioning that Eluvio is also used to run the EPCR TV service – which has seen positive results in markets such as Italy, noted in a previous issue of this newsletter.
Rights watch
ESPN Africa has secured the broadcast rights to the Top 14 in South Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. The new deal was announced earlier this month and includes four live games per round and playoff fixtures and runs until the end of the 2027-2028 season. Interestingly Top 14 Rugby TV will continue to show live fixtures alongside ESPN Africa, according to the Top 14 Rugby TV website.
TV5MONDE has once again confirmed to Rugby Broadcast that the French broadcaster will provide free coverage of the Top 14 in Ireland and the UK this season.
For the first time BBC ALBA provided free-to-air coverage of both the men's and women's Scottish Rugby Cup finals live on the same day last weekend. Similarly TG4 once again showed both the men’s and women’s AIL finals live on Sunday.
In a story that has not been widely covered, Super Rugby Pacific is providing live coverage of the southern hemisphere tournament on its YouTube channel across certain territories in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. This is a change in approach to last season when Super Rugby was shown on NZR+ in dark territories.
Here’s your full TV guide for this weekend’s action:
Friday 1 May
8:05am – Hurricanes v Crusaders (Super Rugby Pacific) – Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports+ / NOW
10:35am – Waratahs v Western Force (Super Rugby Pacific) – Sky Sports+ / NOW
3:00pm – Leinster A v Ulster A (Interpro) – Leinster Rugby Plus
7:45pm – Nottingham v Ampthill (Cham) – Clubber TV
Saturday 2 May
5:00am – Fijian Drua v Highlanders (Super Rugby Pacific) – Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports+ / NOW
8:05am – Moana Pasifika v Blues (Super Rugby Pacific) – Sky Sports+ / NOW
2:30pm – Cornish Pirates v Coventry (Champ) – Clubber TV
3:00pm – Bedford Blues v Chinnor (Champ) – Clubber TV
3:00pm – Caldy v Doncaster (Champ) – Clubber TV
3:00pm – Cambridge v Hartpury RFC (Champ) – Clubber TV
3:00pm – London Scottish v Richmond (Champ) – Clubber TV
3:00pm – Worcester Warriors v Ealing Trailfinders (Champ) – Clubber TV
3:00pm – Leinster v Toulon (Champions Cup) – Premier Sports 1 & Online / NOW
5:30pm – Ulster v Exeter (Challenge Cup) – Premier Sports 1 & Online / NOW
Sunday 3 May
5:00am – Black Rams Tokyo v Kubota Spears (Japan Rugby League One) – Premier Sports Rugby / Unavailable live in Ireland
6:30am – Yokohama v Dynaboars (Japan Rugby League One) – Premier Sports Rugby / Unavailable live in Ireland
12:30pm – Montpellier v Dragons (Challenge Cup) – S4C & Clic / BBC iPlayer / Premier Sports 2 & Online / NOW
3:00pm – Bordeaux v Bath (Champions Cup) – Premier Sports 1 & Online / NOW
9:00pm – Free Jacks v Seattle Seawolves (Major League Rugby) – Premier Sports Rugby & Online / Unavailable live in Ireland
Useful links
YouTube (Pro D2)
YouTube (URC)
Clubber TV (Champ Rugby)
YouTube (PWR)
YouTube (Celtic Challenge)
YouTube (AIL)
TV5MONDE (Top 14)
Final thoughts
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