BT signs exclusive £152m Premiership Rugby broadcast deal
By John Reynolds, mediaweek.co.uk, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 11:59AM
BT has signed a four-year, £152m live broadcast deal with Premiership Rugby, taking over the rights from Sky and ESPN.
Aviva Premiership Rugby: BT signs four-year deal to cover all matches
This means that BT will have exclusive live broadcast rights for four years to show top-flight Premiership Rugby, as well as the "sevens" version of the game.
The deal – which BT says is valued at £152m – kicks off from next year and means BT will now be force in rugby as well as football.
Earlier this year, BT snatched rights for a number of Premier League football matches.
The broadcasting rights for live Aviva Premiership matches are currently split between BSkyB and ESPN.
From 2013, BT will have live broadcast rights to all 69 matches per season of the Aviva Premiership rugby for four years. Winning the rights comes as BT is set to launch its first sports channel next year.
Additionally, it will have live broadcast rights to matches from the entire J.P.Morgan Asset Management "sevens" series for four years.
Mark McCafferty, chief executive of Aviva Premiership Rugby, said: "This is a game-changing agreement and will deliver a service that I know our club supporters will enjoy.
Follow @johnreynolds10
This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk
Related articles
- BT confirms deal to buy ESPN UK&I
- ESPN promotes the Cup Of Dreams as it enters the third round
- BT trademarks potential names for sports channels
- Jeremy Darroch makes £7.3m
- Humphrey quits BBC for BT's fledgling sports channel
- Heineken wants 'quick resolution' to rugby dispute
- Paul Vaughan hands Rugby World Cup reins to Locog star
- BT hunts for Premier League ad sales partner
Additional Information
Campaign Jobs
- Managing Director - Equity potential DU Group £120,000 - £150,000, South Oxfordshire
- Qualitative AD - Digital/ Youth Brands Hasson Associates £40,000 - £50,000, London
- Consultancy Manager, Employee Engagement Hasson Associates £60,000 - £70,000, London
- Director of Research Services - FTC (up to 9 months) Hasson Associates Up to £90,000 pro rata, Central London
- PPC Senior Account Manager : Top 20 Digital Agency Dylan Up to £40000, London
Most viewed
- Blippar connects disjointed families, says MEC executive
- Fans take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Twitter-powered tennis game
- Campaign Viral Chart: Samsung scores hat-trick in tech-heavy chart
- Jaguar readies global campaign for F-Type launch
- ITV and Channel 4 insist they will beat declining ad market
- EE adds Dare to agency roster to develop digital
Most commented
-
A demographic portrait of Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook users
A useful study here from the ‘Pew Research Center’ taking a look at the demographic make-up of US social media users across Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. No data on LinkedIn of Google+, but great stats all the same.
