The Rugby World Cup "was on the brink of remaining free-to-air until 2027" on Monday after ITV beat back competition from Sky Sports in the auction for the next two tournaments, according to Ben Rumsby of the London TELEGRAPH.
Eight months after the Six Nations was saved from going behind a paywall, "the game’s biggest event was close to staying on terrestrial television, with ITV in final negotiations with World Rugby over extending its long-running World Cup contract."
ITV, which has shown every tournament since '91, "emerged victorious from a bidding process that saw Sky ignore the rights for the 2019 edition in Japan but attempt to snatch those for 2023, which will be staged in Europe or South Africa."
The Six Nations "was close to moving to Sky last summer but the BBC and ITV joined forces to keep it free to air until 2021." ITV "also saw off competition from Sky six years ago" when landing the '11 and '15 World Cups for £60M. The "value of the rights has soared" after last year’s tournament in England, "by far the most successful to date" (TELEGRAPH, 3/14).
