Six Nations TV rights soon to be up for grabs

TNT Sports could add the Six Nations to their expanding portfolio of international rugby starting next season. RugbyPass understands the subscription channel will weigh up the pros and cons of bidding for the rights once the tender is put out by the Six Nations organisers.

The current TV deal, which sees live coverage shared between ITV and the BBC, is in its final year, giving the northern hemisphere’s showcase event a much-needed terrestrial presence.

There is talk that the new deal could be worth as much as £100 million – £10 million more than the joint ITV/BBC partnership, which expires at the end of the Championship.

Under the current deal, BBC holds the rights to all Wales and Scotland home matches, and ITV to all those in England, Ireland, France and Italy.

A TNT Sports spokesperson said: “While we think the Six Nations is the best international rugby competition in the world, its important partnership with free-to-air television across the UK and Ireland, but particularly in markets like Wales and Ireland, would make our involvement very challenging.”

Free-to-air Six Nations games regularly draw between 3 and 4.5 million viewers in the UK. But whether the BBC have the money or inclination to enter the bidding process remains to be seen.

Earlier this month, it was announced that a new long-term deal had been signed with the World Snooker Tour (covering the World Championships, Masters and UK Championship), so their priorities may lie elsewhere.

Outgoing BBC director of sport Barbara Slater said in November last year that the corporation would no longer be able to afford to keep the Six Nations.

“We need a well-funded BBC if we are going to be able to continue to afford sports rights,” she said.

“Sports rights in the UK have more than doubled in the past decade. The BBC’s income in real terms has gone down 30%. It is incredibly difficult  for the BBC to maintain, across a range of sports, the expectations of those governing bodies.”

Last year, the UK government declined to add the Six Nations to the list of so-called “crown jewels” list of sporting events, which have to be offered to free-to-air TV channels such as the BBC, ITV or Channel 4 on “fair and reasonable terms”.

The list of events currently includes the Rugby World Cup final, the football World Cups, the Olympic Games and the Wimbledon final, while the Six Nations remains in the next group, which says it can be on a subscription service as long as highlights are offered to free-to-air channels. The new TV deal could end up being a hybrid of subscription and free-to-air live coverage.

Having impressed the Six Nations organisers with their coverage of the Autumn Nations Series, TNT Sports has proven itself more than capable of taking on such a prestigious event as the Six Nations.

For their part, TNT Sport bosses were encouraged by viewing figures during the Autumn, while their Gallagher Premiership figures are also on an upward trajectory.

Over the Christmas period, a whopping 2.6 million fans tuned in to watch English rugby’s premier competition, eclipsing last season’s then-record total of 1.8 million.

Round 8 recorded the highest-ever average audience on TNT Sports with cumulative peak audiences increasing by 44% across the two festive rounds.