Premiership Rugby Extends Bt Sport Deal
The top flight of English club rugby will be live on BT Sport until at least the end of the 2020/21 campaign after Premiership Rugby confirmed a new four-season extension of its current partnership.
The four-year extension to the current four-year cycle makes it the longest broadcast deal in Premiership Rugby history.
The deal includes live broadcast rights for up to 80 live matches per season from Aviva Premiership Rugby for four years starting from the 2017/18 season, as well as rights to matches from the entire Singha Premiership Rugby 7s Series.
It is understood the new contract is worth far in excess of the £152 million agreement the pair signed in 2012, according to media reports, which included handing BT the rights to Premiership teams’ European matches.
Mark McCafferty, the chief executive of Premiership Rugby, said: “BT Sport has been a fantastic partner for English club rugby so we are delighted that we have been able to extend our relationship with them for a further four years. This is the longest TV agreement in the history of Premiership Rugby.
“Aviva Premiership Rugby is in great health with a number of new commercial partners on board and it is testimony to the strength of the competition and our clubs that we have renewed more than two years before the current deal with BT Sport ends.”
McCafferty added that live TV audiences for the competition had grown by 50% in the 18 months Aviva Premiership Rugby has been on BT Sport.
John Petter, chief executive, BT Consumer, commented: “We are absolutely delighted to be extending our partnership with Premiership Rugby. 2015 will be an amazing year for rugby in the UK and the popularity of rugby will continue to grow. We’re delighted to be a part of this and that our customers can look forward to another six seasons of the Aviva Premiership on BT Sport.”
As major partners of Premiership Rugby, BT Sport will also work with Premiership Rugby to develop a community rugby programme and continue to market top flight English club rugby.
McCafferty and Petter joined each other that the Sport Industry Breakfast Club, powered by CWM FX, last year. The networking series kicks off in 2015 tomorrow with World Rugby’s Brett Gosper and UCI’s Brian Cookson. Find out more here.
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