Details of a new deal that will keep Aviva Premiership rugby on BT Sport until 2021 will be revealed soon, reports last night suggested.
It is said that the new contract, for the four seasons from 2017, will be worth considerably more that the £152 million that the broadcaster paid for its original agreement — one that included the rights to top-flight clubs’ European matches — in 2012.
Those are not thought to be part of the new agreement, which includes up to 80 games per season, 11 more than at present. It is also said to include rights to the Singha Premiership Sevens series.
According to The Daily Telegraph, it should give English clubs considerable extra spending power and the opportunity to recruit and retain more of the world’s leading players.
Premier Rugby previously awarded the rights to BT without going out to tender, gambling on cutting ties with Sky Sports and signing an exclusive deal with a network that was then not operating. The governing body is said to have been pleased with attendances and ratings during its first one and a half seasons with BT.
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The deal also comes a few weeks after BT extended its contract to show Barclays Premier League football until 2019, paying £960 million for 126 games over three seasons. That represented its first significant sports outlay since it beat Sky Sports for the rights to Champions League football 18 months ago.
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