Premiership Rugby Goes Live In The Usa

08 Mar 2016 | tshego

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Premiership Rugby has announced a landmark multi-year media agreement with NBC Sports Group for the coverage of Aviva Premiership Rugby.

The partnership with NBC Sports Group kicks off this Saturday, 12th March, at 3pm EST on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) with live coverage of the first-ever Aviva Premiership Rugby match on US soil, featuring London Irish and Saracens at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.

The initial three-year partnership between NBC Sports Group and Premiership Rugby begins with the start of the 2016/17 season in September, covering up to 50 Aviva Premiership Rugby matches streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets and connected TVs, which includes up to 24 regularly-scheduled ‘Game of the Week’ programmes for each round of Aviva Premiership Rugby on NBCSN, which is in c. 85 million US households.

Mark McCafferty, chief executive, Premiership Rugby said: “This new agreement with NBC Sports Group is an historic milestone for us. It takes the Aviva Premiership Rugby brand to a bigger audience than we have ever had in the US.

“NBC Sports Group’s reputation precedes itself, – as the established US television home of the Olympics, the home of Sunday Night Football, the No. 1 show in primetime in the US, and the US home of the Premier League. In signing this deal, NBC Sports Group has bought into the on-field drama of rugby union and plans to work with us to deliver the compelling stories and personalities of English club rugby to the widest possible audience.”

“We are striving to grow rugby union across the world and this is the latest development in this journey, following the announcement of our strategic partnership with USA Rugby. As USA Rugby announced recently, rugby union is the fastest-growing sport in America and we are confident that Aviva Premiership Rugby will soon find a big audience in the United States.”

Jon Miller, president, programming, NBC Sports and NBCSN added: “Our multi-year partnership with Aviva Premiership Rugby is an expansion of our well-documented commitment to the sport and growth of rugby in the US.

“Aviva Premiership Rugby is another cornerstone within our growing and unprecedented rugby portfolio and our unparalleled collection of international sports properties, which includes the Premier League, the Open Championship, Formula One, French Open, and Tour de France.”