ITV wins Rugby World Cup broadcast rights
ITV and Rugby World Cup Limited have announced that they have come to terms on a contract that sees ITV maintain the UK broadcast rights of the Rugby World Cup. The rights entail the upcoming 2011 World Cup in New Zealand as well as the 2015 competition set to take place in England.
2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups
The 2011 Rugby World Cup is set to go next year in New Zealand and will feature 20 teams, taking part in a total of 48 matches, running from 9 September to 23 October. All but one of the teams has been decided for the tournament. England finds itself in a group with Argentina, Scotland, Georgia and a team yet to be determined, which will either be Romania or Uruguay.
The 2015 World Cup will take place in England and feature the familiar World Cup set-up. England will qualify for the competition automatically as the host nation.
ITV and the Rugby World Cup
ITV has held the Rugby World Cup broadcast rights in England since its second running in 1991. ITV’s long relationship with the Rugby World Cup made it the favourite as the RWCL fielded offers from five other companies. They eventually settled on ITV, using commercial agent IMG to sell the rights.
The World Cup in 2011 will feature live broadcasts of every match, as well as the games being broadcast online. In addition the deal also includes highlights and clip packages that will be broadcast on television, online and on mobile devices.
The Rugby World Cup is one piece in the massive puzzle of live sports broadcast by ITV. The media giant also owns UK rights to the FIFA World Cup, England Football internationals, UEFA Champions League, and the FA Cup.
The managing director of the RWCL had this to say about the renewed contract with ITV. “ITV and RWCL have enjoyed a long working partnership. Through its commitment to the sport and exceptional production values ITV has played a central role in the promotion and growth of Rugby and Rugby World Cup in the United Kingdom and we are looking forward to extending that fruitful partnership over the next two RWC tournaments.”
The International Rugby Board struggled with the decision as to who to sell the rights to, mostly because they earn 95 percent of their revenue from the event. The contract is magnified by the fact that the IRB plans to invest 150m pounds in the game around the world. The hope is that the new investment will help grow the game world wide.
Niall Sloane the ITV controller of sport had this to say about their continued relationship with the RWCL: “ITV has a long association with Rugby World Cup and we are delighted to have secured the next two Rugby World Cups free-to-air for ITV’s viewers, particularly as the 2015 tournament takes place in England.”
The contract represents a great deal to ITV as viewership has gone up with every tournament, particularly with England’s recent success at World Cups.
In 2003 there was an audience of 15 million when England won the Webb Ellis Cup as tournament champions. Similarly when England finished runner up to South Africa in the last competition in 2007 ITV recorded an audience of 16 million.
Although the contact to broadcast the up coming Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in lucrative, the real victory for ITV lies in the rights to the 2015 World Cup back at home. The likelihood of record audiences for the broadcaster is high, especially if England were to perform well in the tournament.
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