chiefdave
Well-Known Member
Have they managed to sort out the TV rights yet?
Was reading about C4 getting the current test series and it seems that the initial asking price was £20m, Sky and BT said no and C4 eventually got them at the last minute, when there was a concern there would be no coverage at all, for £2m.
One quote lept out at me "the sports rights market has collapsed", basically saying that if it isn't football the ROI isn't there for Sky and BT as other sports struggle to drive subscriptions. Cricket being in a much stronger position than rugby as it fills hours and is played over the summer when there's little else to retain subscribers.
Turns out that there's a sizeable chunk of things shown on Sky and BT for which they aren't even paying a rights fee. The market is so poor for sports rights that an international feed is produced and supplied free of charge in the hope that it will increase exposure and sponsorship revenue.
Would suggest its not a good time to be looking for a new deal, especially when you're looking for it to be much larger than your current deal. The viewing figures on BT are terrible for live Premiership rugby and the RFU pissed off the BBC when they promised them live games during the pandemic and then pulled out at the last minute.
Was reading about C4 getting the current test series and it seems that the initial asking price was £20m, Sky and BT said no and C4 eventually got them at the last minute, when there was a concern there would be no coverage at all, for £2m.
One quote lept out at me "the sports rights market has collapsed", basically saying that if it isn't football the ROI isn't there for Sky and BT as other sports struggle to drive subscriptions. Cricket being in a much stronger position than rugby as it fills hours and is played over the summer when there's little else to retain subscribers.
Turns out that there's a sizeable chunk of things shown on Sky and BT for which they aren't even paying a rights fee. The market is so poor for sports rights that an international feed is produced and supplied free of charge in the hope that it will increase exposure and sponsorship revenue.
Would suggest its not a good time to be looking for a new deal, especially when you're looking for it to be much larger than your current deal. The viewing figures on BT are terrible for live Premiership rugby and the RFU pissed off the BBC when they promised them live games during the pandemic and then pulled out at the last minute.