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ITV schedule revealed for first half of PREM Rugby season
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PREM Rugby have confirmed the three fixtures that will be shown on ITV in the first eight rounds of the Gallagher PREM 2026/27 season.
Extending their longstanding partnership, ITV signed a new two-season deal with PREM Rugby earlier this year and are committed to showing seven live matches, including the final, in each of the 2026/27 and 2027/28 seasons.
ITV coverage of the Gallagher PREM this season will begin in round one with a heavyweight clash at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, as Leicester Tigers host Saracens on Sunday, 27 September at 3pm, live on ITV1 and ITVX.
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The second free-to-air fixture will see Sale Sharks take on Exeter Chiefs on Sunday, 6 December at 3pm, with the match also live on ITV1 and ITVX.
The festive schedule will then see Harlequins face Northampton Saints in Big Game 18 at Allianz Stadium on Monday, 28 December, live on ITV4 and ITVX.
Further ITV fixtures for the 2026/27 Gallagher PREM season will be announced in due course.
Last season, ITV kicked off their coverage in October with the game between Leicester and Bath, with the then defending champions Bath featuring in the broadcaster’s second match in November, away to Saracens.
Harlequins’ Big Game against Bristol was given ITV airtime in the run up to Christmas, before live coverage resumed post-Six Nations with Saracens’ clash at home to Northampton in March.
As the race for the top 4 intensified, the ITV broadcast the East Midlands derby, Leicester vs Northampton, at the start of May, before live coverage of the regular season closed with Exeter’s game against Saracens on 6 June.
Of the 10 games chosen by ITV since the start of last season, including last year’s final between champions Northampton and Exeter, Saracens and Saints have been the most popular pick for live coverage with four games apiece.
Newcastle Red Bulls and Gloucester are the only two teams to have been overlooked in that period so far, but a strong first half of the season would put them in contention for live coverage when ITV chose their three games in the second half of the regular season.
