URC Teams Up With Rte To Launch Global Ott Platform
The United Rugby Championship (URC) has teamed up with Irish broadcaster RTÉ to launch URC TV, a new global streaming service offering fans around the world the opportunity to watch URC games live and on-demand throughout the season.
The platform will offer rugby fans around the world live-streamed and on-demand access to all 151 games, in addition to other year-round content. The streaming service will be accessible to users across multiple devices, with mobile apps launching shortly after the start of the 2021 URC Season. Matches will be broadcast in HD with English commentary.
Although available in Ireland and Europe, the platform will not screen games in the UK, with Premier Sports, BBC, S4C showing live matches. However, URC TV will be available in Britain, and will include on-demand and ‘snackable’ video content.
“In addition to RTÉ’s strength in TV, it has experience of streaming big sporting events globally and is evidence of a broadcaster that can adapt to market demands and provide a very creative offering for rights holders,” said URC’s Chief Executive Martin Anayi.
A free service showing a range of highlights, archive matches and snackable videos, will be available in all countries including the UK and South Africa (fans in these countries can watch all games live on Premier Sports and Super Sport respectively).
“We are delighted to collaborate with URC on the launch of this innovative new global OTT service to ensure fans across the world don’t miss a moment of URC action,” said Dee Forbes, Director General of RTÉ.
URC TV will also offer a range of subscription packages including a Season Pass (all games), Ireland Pass (all games featuring Irish clubs), Weekend Passes (all games within a round) and individual games passes. These will be available for fans watching in Ireland, Europe (excluding UK), the U.S. and several other territories.
