Six Nations organisers have refused to rule out the possibility of the competition going behind a paywall in 2022 after the next rights bids are lodged this month.
This year’s Six Nations is free to air on BBC and ITV and the tournament has not been behind a paywall for two decades. However, this weekend, the highly-respected rugby journalist Peter Jackson, formerly the rugby correspondent for the Daily Mail, reported in The Rugby Paper that Sky were frontrunners to win exclusive rights to televise the tournament from 2022 to at least 2024.
Six Nations chief executive officer Benjamin Morel said the report of a £300m deal with Sky was “highly premature” but did not rule out such an outcome.
“We are indeed in the process of seeking intentions to bid for various sets of media rights, but these are not due for some time,” he said. “Therefore, all this is highly premature and speculative, as no proposals have been sent by any interested party, yet. I do not intend to comment further.”
The BBC and ITV combined to outbid Sky when the last TV deal was negotiated, securing a deal reportedly worth £90m. Six Nations matches have been on terrestrial television since England’s home games were shown exclusively on Sky from 1997 to 2000.
However, no joint bids are being allowed in the next round of negotiations.
“By ruling out any joint bids it’s almost as if the Six Nations are clearing the way for Sky,” The Rugby Paper quoted an industry source as saying. “There is a very real danger that they will be prepared to sacrifice the big audiences on BBC and ITV for more money.”
BBC Sport, based at MediaCityUK, deploys a significant number of producers, broadcasters and technical staff to work on coverage of the tournament every year.
