Sky Sports, TNT and Premier Sports snub England Rugby vs USA Test
Ahead of the Game: England Rugby rights snub, Nottingham Forest ownership, TNT Sports backs Premiership, Relevent Sports in London and WTA commercial agreement
England are facing a TV blackout for their summer rugby union Test match against the USA, with no domestic broadcasters bidding for the rights.
Sky Sports will show the first two Tests of England’s summer tour in Argentina but has declined to bid for the USA game, while TNT Sports and Premier Sports have also shown no interest.
There is no prospect of the BBC or ITV bidding for a one-off game despite their long-standing coverage of the Six Nations, leaving event organisers USA Rugby with nowhere to turn.
World Rugby is expected to step in and offer to stream the game live on a website they describe as a fan platform, RugbyPass, but it will not be available on linear television.
World Rugby previously streamed England’s summer Test against Japan last year in an experiment it regarded as a success, although USA Rugby had hoped to secure a broadcast deal.
The USA Test will be made available for free to fans who subscribe to RugbyPass, with last year’s game against Japan attracting 500,000 sign-ups.
World Rugby will cover the production costs in what it views as a worthwhile investment to promote the sport, while it also benefits from capturing subscribers’ data.
Not going anywhere
The Greek billionaire placed his shares in a blind trust last week to ensure compliance with Uefa’s rules on multi-club ownership next season, in the event of Forest joining Olympiacos in qualifying for Europe’s premier club competition.
Uefa’s regulations state that no individual or company is allowed to control two clubs that are competing in the same competition.
Forest have slipped to sixth in the Premier League after winning just one of their last five matches, and are two points behind fifth-placed Chelsea with three games remaining, so Europa League qualification is more likely.
As Olympiacos have already qualified for the league phase of next season’s Champions League as a result of winning the Greek Super League they cannot fall into the Europa League.
Should Forest qualify for the Europa League there would be no need for a blind trust arrangement and Marinakis would immediately regain control of the club.
TNT Sports backing rugby
TNT Sports is set to announce a new five-year deal giving it exclusive live rights to England’s Gallagher Premiership during their coverage of this weekend’s top-flight rugby.
The new deal is worth almost £200m to the cash-strapped Premiership clubs, with TNT agreeing to pay a bigger rights fee in each year of the contract, rising to around £40m in the final season.
The new deal is worth considerably more than the Premiership’s existing £66m two-year deal with TNT, as well as giving the clubs additional security.
City AM has been told that the new contract also includes scope for the Premiership to expand from its current 10-team structure should any Championship club meet the minimum standards requirements over the next five years and be granted promotion, in which case the rights fees would increase.
TNT Sports has held Premiership rights since 2013, when the channel was known as BT Sport, and the new deal will see it continue to broadcast top-flight games until the end of the 2031-32 season.
All 93 Premiership matches have been made available for the first time this season, while TNT also has live rights to Premiership Women’s Rugby.
TNT’s coverage this weekend kicks off with Leicester vs Sale on Friday night, with four more games following on Saturday and Sunday.
Staying Relevent in England
Relevent Sports is opening a London office and undertaking a major recruitment drive after winning the lucrative contract to sell exclusive commercial rights for all Uefa men’s club competitions between 2027 and 2033.
The American agency, part-owned by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and also headquartered in Florida, will replace Uefa’s long-time commercial partner Team Marketing, who have sold TV rights and sponsorship for the Champions League since the European Cup was rebranded almost 25 years ago.
Relevent’s expertise and staff are understandably focused on the US market so one of their immediate priorities is to boost their European presence, beginning in London.
While Relevent has largely won the contract in the hope that the Champions League can crack America, leading to concerns that some games will be taken to the States, they will also be tasked with selling in Europe so are likely to recruit some staff currently with Team.
New commercial venture?
The Women’s Tennis Association is eager to accelerate talks over setting up a new joint commercial operation with the Association of Tennis Professionals.
The women’s and men’s tours have been in talks over setting up a joint organisation called Tennis Ventures to manage their commercial rights for almost 12 months, with the WTA keen to close the deal as soon as possible.
The WTA sold 20 per cent of its commercial income to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners two years ago, and is looking for new forms of investment.
The ATP has offered the WTA a 20 per cent stake in Tennis Ventures and, while their leadership was holding out for a better deal, City AM has been told they may now be prepared to accept that share to get the deal done.