Every single England Six Nations fixture until 2029 will be shown on ITV after new broadcast deal announced with BBC now set to show just one match per round
The Six Nations will remain on free to air television until 2029 but every single England fixture will now be shown on ITV in a blow to the BBC.
A new broadcast deal for the rugby competition was announced on Friday but it will see the Beeb show just one fixture per round with the other two hosted by ITV – including every England game.
The present deal which expires after today’s round of fixtures saw ITV show every fixture at Twickenham but the new package, for which they will be paying a greater share, is set to include all England away games too.
As first reported by The Times, the deal is the latest signifier that the BBC is struggling to compete for the priciest sports deals.
Chief Executive of Six Nations Rugby, Tom Harrison said: “The significance of these new and innovative free-to-air partnerships for the Six Nations cannot be overstated.
“By strengthening rugby’s relationships with ITV and BBC, the sport can continue to give as many fans as possible in the UK access to enjoy live coverage of the Six Nations.”
This year’s tournament concludes with a “Super Saturday” triple header as four nations can still technically claim the title.
France, however, are in pole position thanks to last weekend’s convincing win away to Ireland. Once Les Bleus defeat Scotland in Paris tonight they are champions regardless of what happens in the earlier fixtures.
Ireland face Italy first up in Rome and they have to secure a bonus-point win and then watch on, needing both Scotland to shock France and Wales to stop England from securing a bonus point.
England will need to beat bottom-placed Wales, who have lost 16 in a row, in Cardiff and then hope France trip up against Scotland.
The Scots can technically win too but it would require a series of improbable results. They will need to win in Paris by just 52 points and hope that Italy fell Ireland and Wales find a way to defeat England.
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