Premiership Rugby to return to terrestrial on ITV with live games and highlights
Premiership Rugby has agreed a deal to show live matches and highlights on ITV in a move that ends the English top division’s exile from free-to-air television.
BT Sport will remain the primary broadcast partner but ITV will simulcast a handful of live games each season, including the Premiership final, and air a weekly highlights show.
The deal takes effect this month and will run until the end of the 2023-24 season.
“The return of Gallagher Premiership Rugby to terrestrial TV is the perfect way for us to kick off 2022. It’s great news for the league, our clubs, the supporters and the profile of rugby in England,” said chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor.
“Our ambition is to grow the game and make Gallagher Premiership Rugby available to as many people as possible. BT Sport have done an amazing job in building the core Premiership Rugby TV audience and the ITV partnership allows us to expand our reach into the households of millions of other rugby fans. This season our average match audience on BT Sport has risen 30 per cent year on year, which shows the potential.”
Sale’s fixture against Leicester on 30 January will be the first of four matches this season to be shown on BT and ITV at the same time. For the next two seasons, ITV will share the live broadcast of seven games per campaign.
The move ends an embarrassing and much-criticised blackout for those who do not subscribe to pay TV, after the Premiership’s deal with Channel 5 elapsed at the end of last season.
“We are delighted to announce this deal to bring regular free-to-air coverage of top-level club rugby to viewers across ITV’s platforms,” said Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport.
“It has been a pleasure working with BT Sport and our partners at Premiership Rugby in agreeing this deal and we look forward to showcasing the action and the stories from this elite league over the coming years.”
ITV’s deal strengthens its presence in the sport. It already holds rights for the upcoming Six Nations Championship and the Rugby World Cup, which next takes place in 2023.