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'Monumental' TV deal keeps Six Nations on terrestrial TV

DUBLIN, IRELAND - FEBRUARY 01: Jonny Wilkinson and Eddie Jones talk whilst working for ITV prior to the Guinness Six Nations 2025 match between Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium on February 01, 2025 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Dan Mullan - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

The Six Nations will remain on free-to-air TV until at least 2029 after a new broadcast agreement was struck with ITV and BBC.

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Under the terms of the new arrangement, ITV will screen all England games live among the 10 matches to which it has secured the rights, with the BBC showing the remaining five.

The deal comes following reported interest in the Championship from TNT Sports which could have seen the competition go behind a paywall for the first time.

The current agreement that also sees games shared between ITV and BBC expires after Saturday’s climax to the 2025 Six Nations.

“The significance of these new and innovative free-to-air partnerships for the Six Nations cannot be overstated,” Six Nations Rugby chief executive Tom Harrison said.

“By strengthening rugby’s relationships with ITV and the BBC, the sport can continue to give as many fans as possible in the UK access to enjoy live coverage of the Six Nations.

“These partnerships allow us to maximise audience reach whilst generating critical revenue for the game, enabling each union and federation to protect and grow the sport in their country in the coming years.”

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Gabby Logan, Tommy Bowe, Six Nations
Scotland , United Kingdom – 12 March 2023; BBC Sport presenter Gabby Logan in conversation with Former Ireland international and BBC Sport pundit Tommy Bowe before the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Scotland and Ireland at BT Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo By Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

The current deal, worth around £90 million, sees the BBC hold the rights to all Wales and Scotland home matches and ITV to all those in England, Ireland, France, and Italy.

There had been speculation that the BBC would no longer be able to afford to keep the Six Nations, with their outgoing director of sport Barbara Slater saying in November last year that the rights could be beyond their means.

“We need a well-funded BBC if we are going to be able to continue to afford sports rights. Sports rights in the UK have more than doubled in the past decade.

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“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,” said Slater.

In 2024, the UK government declined to add the Six Nations to the so-called “crown jewels” list of sporting events, which have to be offered to free-to-air TV channels on “fair and reasonable terms.”

The Irish Independent have reported that RTE and Virgin Media continue to share the rights in Ireland, and the Six Nations have said an announcement on that will be made soon.

Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport, said: “This is a monumental deal for rugby fans and ITV as we ensure the Guinness Men’s Six Nations Championship stays on free-to-air television.

“We are also proud to be the home of all England matches for the duration of the deal, including England’s much-revered clashes with Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

“The tournament is always one of the sporting highlights of the year, so we look forward to continuing to work with Six Nations Rugby and each union and federation moving forward.”

Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport, added: “This deal is fantastic news for rugby and the BBC, keeping the sport accessible for as many people as possible.

“We are proud to bring the biggest sporting moments to our audiences, and this new deal is the perfect news ahead of our exclusive broadcast coverage of the Women’s Rugby World Cup this summer. This is an exciting time for rugby, and we are proud to share every thrilling moment with audiences across the UK.”

The Women’s Six Nations and U20 Six Nations will also be included in the package.

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RedWarriors 41 minutes ago
France's Peato Mauvaka cited for yellow-carded Ben White incident

Here is his testimony on Ntamack written decision showing he (and Ntamack) knew exactly the difference between that case and Ringrose (red card before a fallow week yes/no). They also knew the only player to benefit from such a situation was Willemse in 2024.

https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/en/discipline

“It is a quirk of the Six Nations that there are two fallow weeks where players can be released back to their clubs. Establishing that a player was “expected to play” for his club in the first fallow week is very difficult in the context of red cards / citations following Six Nations match week 1 fixtures. The biggest variable – performance in match week 2 – is not yet known, and without that information France Men’s Head Coach cannot say definitively (nor is he required to say under the terms of the FFR / LNR Agreement) whether after match week 1 a player would have been designated for the first fallow week. The “expected to play” wording requires a great deal of speculation in the context of a Six Nations match week 1 fixture so far as it concerns France players”

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Townsend singles out Scot vs 'one of the biggest challenges' in rugby

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MS 2 hours ago
Why Blair Kinghorn should be nailed on as the Lions starting 15

I can see arguments for both Kinghorn, and Keenan starting for the Lions. But I’m less convinced by some of the claims (clearly partisan) supporters are using to argue the merits of one over the other.


For example, a number of Ireland supporters have suggested Kinghorn is ‘defensively weak’. That’s patently false - or at least on the evidence of this 6N, he’s certainly no weaker there than Keenan is, who is presumably the comparative standard they’re using. Keenan was both shrugged off in contact, and beaten on the edge for pace, a number of times during this competition.


Equally, Scotland supporters arguing Kinghorn is the more capable ‘rugby player’ seem to have overlooked the (frankly sizeable) body of evidence demonstrating that Keenan is an excellent ball in hand distributor and decision maker. So that doesn’t hold up under scrutiny either.


I don’t think there’s all that much to choose between them, and either would be a strong choice. I think it would be really interesting from a pure rugby perspective to see Keenan playing a ‘Scotland-esque’ style of high tempo attacking rugby. Either coming into the line more routinely as first receiver, or being swung as a pendulum and getting the ball on the edge against a stretched defence.


That’s assuming Andy Farrell goes that route, of course. He may well just opt for his Ireland system instead, and populate it with the likes of Henshaw, Ringrose, Lowe and Keenan. I’m sure that would win the series. Quite what effect it might have on a Lions audience who were expecting something other than ‘Ireland on tour, but wearing red’ would remain to be seen.


As for the debate at FB, the only ‘eye test’ difference I feel exists is in the pace of rugby Kinghorn (Toulouse? Scotland?) tends to play. His passing/offload game feels crisper and higher tempo than Keenan’s - and as we saw in Paris, his pace and eye for a gap from deep are superior.


But again, that will only prove a decisive factor if Andy Farrell wants to play that way. If all he wants from his FB is to sit deep, field high balls, and mop up then there’s little between these two equally excellent players.

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