Rugby Australia has given World Rugby a green light to stream Super Rugby AU games into the UK, Ireland and other countries in the absence of a lucrative UK broadcast deal.
Fans in the UK, Ireland, some other European countries, Asia (excluding Japan), North America and the Middle East will now be able to watch this week’s Super Rugby AU action on World Rugby’s website.
Super Rugby AU can now be streamed by UK and Ireland viewers. Credit:Getty
SANZAAR, the southern hemisphere governing body, has been trying to ink a broadcast deal in the UK, having had a previous arrangement with Sky UK.
However, the Herald reported last month that rugby fans in the UK and Ireland were not able to watch the opening round of Super Rugby AU.
SANZAAR received roughly £20m a year (about $35.7m) from Sky UK in the last broadcast deal (2016-2020), which also included Rugby Championship matches.
It is unclear whether World Rugby paid for the content or RA gave up Super Rugby AU matches for free. World Rugby will stream the games for free via their website and social media channels, as they have previously done for the World Sevens Series and tier two internationals.
The arrangement with World Rugby will not preclude Rugby Australia securing a deal with a more traditional broadcaster. Indeed, RA is still hopeful SANZAAR can ink a deal in the coming weeks.
By comparison, New Zealand Rugby struck a deal recently with RugbyPass to stream Super Rugby Aotearoa in the northern hemisphere. No broadcast arrangement has been reached by either Australia or New Zealand for Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, which begins in mid-May.
Rugby Australia chief executive Andy Marinos said in a statement: “The broadcast landscape has changed dramatically since the COVID-19 disruption, and while this is an interim solution for the 2021 season, we are tremendously excited about the partnership with World Rugby.
